Legends of Minecraft: Heroes of Notchton
by Dr. Sauros
Summary: Imagine a world beyond ours, where everything is made of blocks. Where imagination soars, and anything is possible. Where adventure is waiting around every turn, and creatures prepared to stop you. Some of the greatest adventurers in this world are recorded in this series. These people are legends. The Legends of Minecraft.
1. Prologue: Over the Wall

**_Based on Marcus "Notch" Persson's Minecraft._**

* * *

_Just one more block _thought Andrew. _Just one more. _The walled city he was living in, Notchton, just wasn't enough for him. He knew the laws. Never leave the city's walls. He knew that if he was caught, he would have the Grand Council of Elders to answer to. Notchton wasn't bad or anything. In fact, by anyone's standards, it was one of the greatest cities ever built. Populated by 15,000 people, with 1st class housing, 1st class food, 1st class everything. There was even a Parkour Lodge, a Spleef Arena, a Horse Racing Track, and even a Water Park. The council was desperate to make people want to stay.

But these walls! These massive, daunting, stone walls! They made Andrew feel confined, cooped up, imprisoned, even. He was desperate to see what was on the other side.

Security was pretty tight. In fact, there were alarms that went off if a block was placed in the vicinity of the wall, or if the wall was broken. But the alarms didn't count vines. That's what the 13 year old Andrew was waiting for, for that one solitary vine, that green glimmer of hope and adventure, to just grow one more block down for him to climb over the wall to freedom. He didn't know what was on the other side, or how he would get down from the wall once he was on top. The least he could hope for was a view, just a glimpse of the outside world. From the day he was born it seemed, he was being told stories about the creatures that lurked outside the walls. He never believed any of it. Monsters that exploded? Tall black men that killed you if you looked at them? Myths. Folklore, exaggerated and embellished with every telling. Then suddenly, it happened. The vine grew one block downward.

Overjoyed, Andrew grabbed onto the vine, and climbed. He made sure to wear his black leather tunic tonight, to blend in with the darkness. After a few seconds, he finally made it to the top. Triumphantly, he stood up and laughed. Slowly, he turned, and looked out over the no-man's land, known only as "The Outside". There was a forest, and mountains in the distance, silhouetted against the rising moon. He looked at the top of the mountain, and he saw what looked like a..."A house?" said Andrew. He had to check it out. Finally, some excitement! He looked over at the Trekker's Path, going out of the only, and most heavily guarded, exit in the city. That was where an elite group of Villagers known as The Trekkers left Notchton's boundaries to gather resources. 9 times out of 10, one of them never came back. Andrew made sure he went over the wall right after they had made their monthly trek. He knew he wouldn't be spotted. _Unless I don't get off of this wall_ thought Andrew. He looked around, looking for a way down to The Outside. He looked down to the forest. There was an unusually large Oak tree beneath him. He smiled, then jumped on the large Oak. He jumped down from tree to tree, until he finally hit the ground. He made it! He was outside Notchton! The thrill of the moment so enveloped him, that he didn't realize the movement in the grass behind him. He walked through the forest toward the mountainous region, leaving a trail of torches so he would know the way back home. Suddenly, he heard a twig snap. He looked at the dark forest around him. He got out his wooden sword. He knew it wasn't a...what was it...Creeper? Anyway, he knew it wasn't an exploding monster. But whatever it was, he wasn't alone, and he prepared for trouble. He looked, and out of the forest came...a pig. Andrew breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, hi, piggy!" Then, out of nowhere, an arrow flew out of the darkness, and hit the pig. The injured animal ran into the forest. Andrew ran as fast as his legs could carry him, placing torches every few blocks. He stopped to catch his breath, and saw the pig again. _Wait a minute,_ he thought, _It's black! And what's with it's legs?_ The creature turned and faced him. Eight glowing red eyes blinked in the dark. It hissed, and ran at Andrew on it's eight spindly legs. Andrew's eyes widened. _Spider! _As the spider leaped at him, he held out his hands and closed his eyes, forgetting he had a sword, causing the spider to leap onto the sword, killing it. The spider went completely limp. Andrew opened his eyes, saw that he killed it, and quickly shook the spider off of the sword. "Yeah!" He nervously shouted. "Let that be a lesson!" He turned, and a green monster, as tall as he was, and with four legs, was facing him. It made a hissing noise, then suddenly, exploded with tremendous force. He was sent flying back into the tree, then slumped to the ground. He got up, and ran. He followed the torch trail back to the wall. He had to catch his breath again. he looked around, and he saw an odd looking tree. it had no branches or leaves, and it was black, with strange purple particles around it. Then he realized. It was an Enderman. And he was looking at it. He shouted, "Sweet mother of Notch, these things are real!" That caught the Enderman's attention. It turned, and it's glowing purple eyes fixed on Andrew. It opened it's mouth, and let out an unearthly scream. Then, it disappeared. Confused, he turned around, and the Enderman was standing inches from him. Andrew ran, and the Enderman ran at him. He ran to the Trekker's Path. He didn't care about getting caught anymore. He just wanted to live. He screamed, and the Enderman teleported in front of him. This was it. He was going to die. Just then, a diamond sword blade thrust out of the Enderman. The Enderman fell forward, and standing on the Enderman's back was a Notchton guard, dressed in full diamond armor. The Enderman faded into nothing, and in it's place, was one solitary, blue orb. The guard picked up the orb, and barked at Andrew, "What're you doing out here, kid? You know The Outside is off limits!" Seeing Andrew's condition, the guard's expression softened. "Well, I hope you've learned to never do this again." Andrew sincerely said "Never again. Never, ever, ever again."


	2. Chapter 1: The Notchton Races

**Four Years Later**

* * *

Andrew leaned forward on Atticus, his horse. Next to him, the four horse racing champions of Notchton, Marcus, Philetus, Rosetta, and James, were leaning forward, their eyes fixed firmly on their goal. They needed their focus. This was no ordianry horse race. The race took them around Notchton, through the Parkour Lodge, where they would jump across the parkour track, and it would take them through the Spleef* Arena, where the racers would attempt to dig out the snow from under the opponent's horse. Then on the final strech, the racers would jump over a series of fences, and finish the race. The race started at the castle where The Grand Council of Elders resided. At the balcony on the front of the castle, the audience cheered as the three grand council members, three elderly villagers, Herald, Anthony, and Constantine, walked onto the balcony. Herald was the head councilman, Anthony was his right hand man, and Constantine was General of The Trekkers. Herald walked to the large gong, and shouted, "We welcome you, citizens of Notchton, to The Notchton Races! We would like the racers to come to their marks!" Andrew whispered to Atticus, "You ready for this, buddy?" Atticus neighed. Andrew smiled. "Let's win this." The racers walked their horses to the starting line. Herald shouted, "Get ready!" The racers put on their iron helmets. "Get set!" The racers leaned forward. Herald picked up a stick, and lifted it high in the air. "Let The Notchton Races begin!" Herald rung the gong, and the racers were off like an arrow from a bow.

Andrew rode furiously, gaining a lead on the racers. Then Rosetta rode up next to him, blew him a kiss, laughed, and rode away. Andrew spurred Atticus onward. The racetrack began to go up a bridge going across the plaza, and directly over the huge fire pit in the middle of the city. That fire pit had been there since the city was founded, and it never burned out. He always wondered how that was. He sped Atticus up, and passed Rosetta as the bridge dropped to ground level, and went into the Parkour Lodge. Once the racers were in, they began jumping on the small blocks, suspended in mid air over a pool of water. Philetus overshot a jump, and fell screaming into the water below. He and his horse resurfaced spitting out water. Andrew laughed. Of all the racers, Philetus had badgered Andrew the most. The racers treated each other more like brothers and sisters than enemies. Philetus however, was a bully. It made Andrew unspeakably happy to see Philetus eat his words on the first challenge. "_How did he put it again?" _Andrew thought. _"'I'll parkour circles around you?'"_

Andrew took the jumps with relative ease, nearly falling on one occasion, but regaining his composure. The racers finally left the Parkour Lodge, except James, who was slowly jumping over the gaps about halfway through. They zoomed through the city, Marcus passing Rosetta and Andrew, and then they entered the Spleef Arena. They got out their shovels as they rode across the single layer of snow, suspended above another pool of water. Rosetta was the first to make a move, digging out a few blocks of snow in front of Andrew. Andrew jumped over them, but just barely. He dug out two blocks in front of Rosetta when she wasn't looking, and she fell through the snow, and into the water. Andrew finally caught up to Marcus, both of them digging out snow from under each other, and failing. They finally left the Spleef Arena, and out into the final stretch. The racetrack was made of purple wool, and there were fences that Marcus and Andrew had to jump over. They both jumped over the first, second, and third ones, but Atticus stumbled over the fourth, giving Marcus a lead again. It was time. Andrew said, "Alright, let's flip!" Atticus neighed in agreement, and then jumped over the fence, but flipped in the air, skipping the one after that, catching up to Marcus, and landing perfectly. Marcus looked at Andrew, wide eyed, grinned from ear to ear, shook his head, and kept on jumping. _He's impressed. _Thought Andrew. Apparently, the crowd was too, because they roared with thunderous applause. The finish line was within sight. There were no more fences, just one, long stretch to the finish line. Andrew and Marcus made a mad dash for the finish line, neck in neck, and just 10 blocks away from the finish line, Andrew pulled ahead, and won by a nose. The crowd stood up, jumped up and down, and cheered. Andrew and Marcus got off of their horses. Marcus walked up to Andrew, shook Andrew's hand, and said with a british accent, "Well played, worthy opponent."

* * *

After Andrew got ready for bed that night, He walked into Atticus' stable. He brushed his mane, and gave him some suger lumps. "You raced great today, old buddy!" Andrew said. "You did great!" Just then, the door burst open, and in ran Horatio. Andrew could fill a book with crazy things that Horatio did. Horatio was kind of like a mad scientist. He was extremely smart, but he did some dumb things in his time. That's why they were best friends. Life never seemed to be dull with Horatio around. He remembered when Horatio had tried to create an explosive potion, and it worked all too well. It blew up his house. Two days later, when the fire had finally been put out, he realized that an underground lab would be better. When he was digging the hole for his lab, he stumbled upon a cave, with a chest in it. In it, he found what was called a JavaScroll. It was the first of five clues to find a very special book. A book that was given by Notch himself to the first minecrafter, Stevie. The Book of Notch. It was Notch's journal. It contained information on his life, his ideas, but most importantly, how to manipulate the force that made up everything in Minecraftia. JavaScript. When the book was given to Stevie, he mastered the art of JavaScripting, and became known by the title of The Great JavaScripter. Then one day, he just disappeared. Him, along with The Book of Notch. Never to be seen again. Coming back to the present, Andrew asked Horatio, "What is it, Horatio? It's almost curfew." Horatio said, "No, no, no, this is more important than some curfew! I know where it is!" Andrew asked, "Where what is?" Horatio, wide eyed, took the first JavaScroll out of his pocket. "The second JavaScroll!"

* * *

***Spleef: The minecraft sport where a layer of snow is suspended high above a pool of water, or lava, and the player attempts to dig the snow out from under his opponent with a shovel.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Earth of Another Earth

Andrew couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a few seconds, Andrew said "Well?! Are you going to tell me where it is?" Horatio said "Well remember what the first JavaScroll said? 'You will find the next clue buried in the earth of another earth'? Well, I did some serious thinking, and my mind went to the fire pit in the middle of the plaza. Every now and then, they put out the fire to clean it out. I saw them cleaning the fire pit, and you'll never believe what I found out!" Horatio leaned close, and his voice lowered. "It burns off of a pile of Netherrack!" Andrew said, "And Netherrack is only found in the Nether!" They both said simultaneously, "The earth of another earth!"

Then Andrew realized something. "If the second JavaScroll is in the fire pit," he said, "how are we going to get it without being seen?" The JavaScrolls were Horatio and Andrew's little secret. They couldn't risk the power to JavaScript falling into the wrong hands. Horatio said, "That's the hard part. Do you have a pickaxe on you?" Andrew said, "Yes, why?" Horatio said, "Do you remember that old abandoned mineshaft that we found? The one that goes under the city?" How could Andrew forget? Two years ago, Horatio and Andrew found an odd hole in the ground, in a place where nobody went, and it lead directly to an abandoned mineshaft. They fought through hordes of monsters, but they finally put enough torches to make it safe. Andrew nodded. Horatio then said, "Well, I found that a certain part of it goes under the plaza. We're going to need you to use our pickaxe and dig upwards, but since it isn't _precisely _under the fire pit, it may be kind of difficult." Andrew said, "Well, if it means finding the next JavaScroll, then I'm in." Horatio smiled. "If we want to do it tonight, we're going to need to dodge the guards. It's past curfew." Andrew said, "This is the kind of thing that I was saving my Black Leather Armor for." He walked to a chest, dug in it for a few moments, then came out with two sets of black leather armor.

* * *

The two guards walking through the city with torches in hand were listening quietly for anybody who might be breaking curfew. One of them said, "You know, I've always wondered why guards aren't allowed to go to The Outside. I mean, we can handle a couple of spiders, can't we?" The other one said, "Meh. I'd rather not take the risk." Their talking distracted them from the two moving shadows that stole away from the alley that the guards passed. Andrew and Horatio, dressed entirely in black leather armor, were completely silent. Horatio whispered, "Which way was it again? Left?" Andrew said, "No, right." "Got it." They went right at a fork in the cobblestone road. They went down an alleyway, and sneaked behind a house that was directly in front of the wall. Behind the house, in between the house and the wall, there was a small hole, leading down into a cave. They walked in, and after they were completely under, the cave was lit by torches. They took a right at the first fork in the cave, and then they came across the old abandoned mineshaft. "So, which which direction is the fire pit again?" Andrew said. Horatio looked at his compass. "Well, we can get a general idea of the direction, because the spawn point is right next to the fire pit." The spawn point was where every man, woman, and child came into existence. Minecrafters didn't have parents. They spawned into the world as babies, and they were taken care of by special homes, and then left at age 14. All compasses pointed to spawn. Horatio pointed to the left. "That way." He said. They walked through the mineshaft, Andrew holding his pickaxe, and Horatio leading the way with his torch and compass. After a few minutes, Horatio finally stopped, and said, "Ah! Here!" Andrew got his pickaxe, and dug straight up. Then, Horatio said, "Wait! Stop!" Andrew stopped. "What is it?" Horatio said, "You can't just start digging! We need to get directly under the fire pit!" Horatio put his hand under his chin, started to think. Horatio became detached, lost in thought, almost oblivious to the surrounding environment. He mumbled. "Alright, we went under at the western wall, then went east 20 blocks, then north 28, then east 12..." He did this for about thirty seconds, until finally, he said. "Dig 5 blocks to the left, 2 blocks forward, then straight up." Andrew did so, and then, he hit a red, rocky substance, not quite as hard as stone, but not quite as soft as dirt. Netherrack. The earth from another earth.

* * *

Andrew just stood there for a moment. Then he continued digging. He then struck something wooden. He looked. It was the bottom of a chest. Andrew grabbed it, and pulled it out. He dropped it down to Horatio. "Careful!" Horatio said. "We don't want to ruin the JavaScroll!" They opened the chest, and in it was a scroll just like the one Horatio had. Andrew, hand shaking, picked it up. Him and Horatio held both sides, as they opened it. Andrew read, "To find the next JavaScroll, come girded with armor and sword, for across the sea, the monsters there are not to be ignored. Giant mushrooms, red cows, and grey dirt will show the place, so before anyone else can get there you must make haste." Horatio's eyes were wide. Andrew said, "You know where to find it, don't you?" Horatio just mumbled, "I thought that place was a myth!"


	4. Chapter 3: The Grand Council

Andrew said, "What's a myth? What's it talking about?" Horatio said, "Well, about 12 years ago, The Trekkers-" "Hey!" Someone shouted. Andrew and Horatio turned. A Notchton Guard was behind them.

* * *

The next day, Andrew and Horatio stood before The Grand Council of Elders. They were nervous, to say the least. They had broken curfew, and dug under public property. Even though nobody would see it, it was still considered vandalism. Herald, the head councilman, walked up to his podium, elevated 10 blocks above the ground. Anthony and Constantine were on podiums on either side of him, slightly lower. Herald spoke with a deep voice. "Andrew and Horatio. You have been brought before The Grand Council of Elders to answer for breaking curfew, and vandalizing public property." Herald raised his long staff with an emerald attached to it, and pointed it towards Andrew and Horatio. "How do you plead?" Andrew said, "Guilty, sir." Herald said, "Andrew, I know you've always been one for trouble, but what would motivate you in doing this?" Andrew and Horatio looked at each other. Andrew then turned to Herald and said, "We..were just looking to have a bit of a thrill." Herald grunted, and said, "We hereby sentence Andrew to suspension from Horse racing, and Horatio from laboratory work, until further notice. That is all."

* * *

As Andrew and Horatio walked out from the Council Room, Horatio said, "Man. I had some serious stuff going on down there in my lab." There was silence, and then Andrew said, "Now, do you know what the JavaScroll was talking about?" Horatio thought, and said, "Oh, yeah! The giant mushrooms, red cows, or whatever. Well, there's an urban legend about when 12 years ago, The Trekkers were directed off of their usual route, and they went across the ocean in a huge fleet. They eventually ran across an island where the grass was gray, the cows were red, and they had mushrooms growing off of their backs, and there were mushrooms about 10 blocks high. They simply called it The Mushroom Island. Month after month, for the year after that, they kept searching for The Mushroom Island. But nobody ever found it. In fact, the lack of resources they brought back caused The Great Starve." Now, Andrew knew what The Great Starve was. The Trekkers didn't bring enough resources, and Notchton in it's entirety was nearly wiped out. Andrew said, "So, we're going to have to go to..._The Outside?_" Horatio said, "Yeah, wh-" Horatio saw the look on Andrew's face. "Oh, yeah." Andrew said, "Well, this is The Book of Notch we're talking about. I'll live. Maybe." Horatio said, "We need to find their map at the library. But it's getting late. We'll do it tomorrow."

* * *

Herald, Anthony, and Constantine sat around a table. Herald said to Constantine, "Constantine. Have your Trekkers located the JavaScroll yet?" Constantine shook his head. "No, sir. We're still looking." Herald shook his head and sighed. "He's not going to like this." Herald said. The room was silent. Anthony said, "We should check those kids. Andrew and Horatio. They're hiding something." Herald nodded. "Andrew wouldn't break curfew to merely get a thrill. He's holding out on us. Bring Andrew to my room."

* * *

Andrew wondered why the Head Councilman had summoned him to his room. All he knew was that he was at his house, listening to a CaptainSparklez album, when two Notchton Guards showed up at his door, and told him they were ordered to escort him to the Head Councilman. Andrew walked through the Castle's hallways with the guards, stopping at two large doors. They opened, and Andrew walked into Herald's room. It was massive. Herald sat in the large Creeper-Skin chair in front of the window. Herald then said, "Guards, you may leave us now." The guards left. Andrew stood there nervously. Herald then said, "Do not worry, Andrew, you aren't in trouble." Andrew was relieved. He then said, "So, sir, what do you need?" Herald said, "I believe you may not have been telling me the whole truth in the Council room." Andrew's relief vanished. He said, "Wh-what makes you say that?" Herald said, "Well, every time you got into any sort of mischief, you've had a reason. I see no reason for you to suddenly break curfew, and vandalize public property for no reason to speak of. You're hiding something." Andrew thought. Should he tell him? After all, he _was _the Head Councilman. If anyone should know, it would be him. Andrew sighed, and said, "Well, sir, have you heard the legend of the Great JavaScripter?" Herald said, "Yes." "Well," Andrew said, "Then you would know about the JavaScrolls. Well, remember when Horatio blew up his house, and decided to make an underground laboratory? He stumbled upon a cave with a chest in it, and in the chest, he found the first JavaScroll." Herald's eyes widened. _He _did _find it!_ Herald thought. Andrew continued, "It said you would find the second scroll in 'The Earth of Another Earth'." Herald said, "Ahh, and the fire pit burns off of Netherrack!" Andrew said, "Yep. And, in the second JavaScroll, it said that you could find the third one on The Mushroom Island."


	5. Chapter 4: The Voyage

The next day, Horatio burst into Andrew's house, along with a red haired girl, dressed entirely in green. Andrew recognized her on sight. Her name was Lucille, but she preferred the name Robin. She was Andrew and Horatio's age, and she had a fondness for the tale of Robin Hood. She was such a good archer, that she could split two arrows simultaneously. She always dressed in green. Right now, though, her and Horatio looked worried. They probably heard about Andrew being summoned. Andrew said, "Oh, hey Robin! How were the Survival Games? Did you win?" Robin said, "Yeah, yeah, I won, but I heard that you guys found the other JavaScroll!" (Robin was the only other person who knew about the JavaScroll) Horatio said, "And that the head councilman summoned you!" Andrew smiled. "Yeah, he did." Andrew said. "He knew we were holding out on him. He wanted to know what was up." Robin said, "Well? Did you tell him?" Andrew said, "Yeah." Horatio nearly fainted. Robin said, "What?! You TOLD him?!" Andrew said, "Now, don't freak out, it gets better from here. The Head Councilman says he's going to lift our suspensions, and fund our expedition to The Mushroom Island!" After a few moments of complete silence, Horatio slowly said, "We-we're being funded? To what extent?" Andrew's smile broke into a grin. "Armor, weaponry, food, materials, anything! We're going to The Mushroom Island!"

After a lot of planning for the trip, Horatio said, "Wait a minute. The Great Starve was caused by The Trekkers not finding The Mushroom Island. What makes you think two teenagers could find it?" "Two?" Robin said. "I'm coming with you guys!" Andrew said, "Robin, I don't think it would be the best-" Robin cut him off. "You're going to need an archer. I'm coming." Andrew sighed. Once she had her mind set on something, that was the end of the discussion. "Andrew relented, and said, "Now, as for finding The Mushroom Island...we're clueless. We have no coordinates, no way of-" "Wait a minute." Horatio said. He took out the two JavaScrolls. on the bottom of the first one, it said, ':-825 Z', and on the bottom of the other one, it said 'X :481' Horatio shouted "Eureka!" He put the first JavaScroll on top of the other one, and the two seemingly random inscriptions made the words, 'X:-825 Z:481' Horatio said, "These are X and Z coordinates! If we follow these, I'll bet that they'll lead us to The Mushroom Island!"

* * *

The head councilman walked into a dark room. He closed the door behind him. He flipped switch. The large monitor in front of him flickered to life. A dark shadowy figure was on the other side. He suddenly barked, "What is it, Herald? I hope you actually have some GOOD news to report for a change!" Herald said, "Better than we could have hoped for, sir! We have the first two JavaScrolls!" There was a pause. The man on the other side laughed. "Finally! Where is the third one?" "I don't know exactly where, but..." Herald said. "But I can tell you who to follow."

* * *

The day had finally come. Andrew, Robin, and Horatio, accompanied by several Trekkers, dressed in full diamond armor, were standing on the shores of the Sea of Jeb, at the Trekker's Dock, where their ship, _The Blazerunner_, was at dock. The captain walked out to greet them. The captain was a villager with a scar going over his left eye, and a mustache. He spoke with a pirate voice, "Argh! Are these the landlubbers that found the JavaScroll?" Horatio said, "That'd be be us." Andrew said, "Wow. An honest to Notch pirate." The captain spoke, this time with a deep british voice, like most villagers. "Actually," He said, "I'm not really a pirate. I just thought the voice sounded cool."

As the ship was loading the supplies, Andrew walked up to one of the Trekkers. Andrew nervously said, "So, are you SURE there are no monsters out here?" The Trekker said, "As I've said before, they are only nocturnal creatures. You'll be fine." Andrew, still somewhat skittish, said to Horatio, "Where's Robin at?" Horatio said, "Practicing over there." He pointed to a few trees, where Robin was shooting three arrows at a time, hitting all three trees.

* * *

After everybody had boarded, and the ship had left the dock, Andrew felt relieved. _No monsters out here._ thought Andrew. About halfway to The Mushroom Island, Horatio checked their coordinates, and directed the ship in a slightly different direction. Robin walked up to the stern of the boat, and shouted to the captain, "What's that fog over there?" The captain said with his pirate voice, "Ah ha! When I was on the mission that went to The Mushroom Island, we passed through that very same fog!" They sent the boat into the fog.


	6. Chapter 5: Arrival

As The Blazerunner went into the fog, hardly anything was visible, and at one point, they barely missed a huge rock spire. Andrew looked over the side of the boat, and saw some dark shapes in the water, swimming alongside the boat. Andrew said to the captain, "Hey, captain! What are these things in the water?" The captain walked to the side of the boat, then his eyes grew wide. "Get away from the side!" He shouted, then, a blue creature jumped out of the water, it's tentacles outstreched, flying towards Andrew, but then, an arrow hit it in the side, and threw it sideways. Robin lowered her bow as the thing went completely limp. Andrew walked up to it. "A squid?!" He said. "I thought those things were harmless!" The captain said, "Not around here, they're not. I've seen one o' them swallow a Trekker whole!" Horatio shuddered. Robin said, "Wow. Man eating squids. This just keeps getting better."

* * *

As they sailed through the fog, Andrew looked up at one of the many rock spires they were sailing through. On top of one of them, he noticed an odd looking rock. As they got closer, and were passing it, he realized it. It wasn't a rock. It was a man! Andrew turned around, and shouted, "Guys! Look at this!" He turned back, and the man was gone. Andrew had no idea who that man was, how he got there, or how he disappeared so quickly, but all remembered was two glowing white eyes. Maybe the sea had already taken a toll on him. Everyone ran up to him, and when they found out what had happened, the captain quickly said, "Well, it'd appear that someone's in need of a little shuteye. You kids best be getting off to bed. I'll handle it from here."

As everybody slept in their cabins, the captain looked around, and that same man who was on the rock spire suddenly appeared behind him, the only things visible being his two glowing white eyes. The captain turned around. He said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you're getting shabby, matey. One o' me guests saw you." The man said, "Well, it doesn't matter. How's the trip coming along?" The captain said, "These kids know exactly where to go. I don't know how. They just keep pointing the way." The man said, "These kids are something special. Too bad they may not live."

* * *

Soon, Andrew was woken up by Robin, who was saying, "Get up! We're there!" Andrew got up with a start, and went up to the deck of the ship. What he saw took his breath away. This wasn't an island. It was an entire continent. The ground was entirely grey, and there were red cows, with mushrooms growing out of their backs. But the most impressive part was the mushrooms. The mushrooms were easily 8 blocks high at the very least! The captain walked up to Andrew, Robin, and Horatio. he said, "C'mon, mates! Let's find yer scroll!" The sun was just rising in the distance, and there were no monsters to speak of. Andrew said, "Man! Came right at dawn! Lucky." Robin said, "Actually, we came at midnight. We just waited for it to be safer." "Oh..." Andrew said sheepishly.

As they walked through The Mushroom Island, Robin began to realize something. She was really, really thirsty. There was nothing but seawater around, and the only thing she had was a bucket. _Wait a minute._ She thought. She had a bucket. She looked at one of the red mushroom cows. She slowly, ever so carefully walked up to it, put the bucket under the cow, reached for the udders, and...squirt. After that was over, she looked into the bucket. Horatio and Andrew walked up to Robin. The 'Milk' was brown, hot, and had mushrooms floating in it. Horatio said, "Where did you get that?" Robin said, "It was supposed to be milk. I got it from one of the red cows." Andrew said, "Um, Robin? That's not milk." Horatio exclaimed, "Their milk is mushroom soup! Amazing! Now we don't need to worry about food!"*

After another half day of walking, they came to a huge mountain, and on top of it, they could see some kind of structure made of stone bricks. Andrew said, "Alright team, let's go." Everybody looked at him. Andrew said, "I've always wanted to say that." As they climbed the mountain, they passed a cave. Suddenly, out of nowhere, five endermen teleported around everybody. Andrew's eyes grew wide. _Not again! Please, not again! _he thought. They got out their diamond swords, and Robin got her bow out, and strung an arrow from her quiver. The captain held out his sword, and the enderman held out his arm. The captain let out a hearty laugh, and swung his sword, the enderman blocking it with his arm. The two sword-arm fought for a while, until finally, the captain jabbed his sword with a decisive motion, and ran the enderman through. The enderman fell, and faded, leaving another blue orb. Andrew backed up toward a cliff as an enderman cornered him and let out another scream. Andrew finally took his sword, closed his eyes, ran at the enderman, and ran it through. Andrew opened his eyes, and saw yet another blue orb in the enderman's place. He wondered what they were. He looked at where Robin was. All that was there were two endermen. _They got Robin! _he thought. Suddenly, from a higher point in the mountain, jumped a green blur. Robin. Andrew stared starry eyed as she jumped behind the endermen, strung two arrows, and shot both of the endermen in the backs of their heads. Robin walked up to Andrew as he snapped out of it, and she said, "Was that the last of them?" Andrew said, "Where'd number 5 go?" Suddenly, they heard Horatio's choked scream. "Help!" He shouted. They turned, and an enderman held Horatio in the air by his throat. Horatio had a gash on the left side of his head.

* * *

* **I know what you may be thinking. "Why is finding mushroom soup so important? There's giant mushrooms everywhere!" Well, Andrew, Horatio and Robin were smart. They don't eat wild mushrooms. :)**


	7. Chapter 6: Betrayal

Andrew and Robin stood in horror, then Robin took three arrows out of her quiver, shot them into the enderman's head, back, and leg, and Andrew and the captain used their swords, and cut the enderman into three pieces. Then, as usual, it faded, and was replaced by a blue orb. Horatio was on the ground, gasping for breath, and then Robin and Andrew helped him up. Robin frantically asked, "Are you okay? Is the wound serious?" Horatio said, "No, no, no, it's just a cut. But there was something odd about the enderman, I can't exactly remember. The gash was from when he hit me, and I hit my head on a rock." Horatio started limping, and then collapsed to the ground. The captain pulled up Horatio's pant leg. In his leg, there was a huge stab wound. Robin gasped. Andrew said, "What happened there?!" Horatio looked, then a look of sudden understanding crossed his face. "THAT'S what was odd about the enderman!" He looked at Andrew. "It had a retractable claw!" Horatio said. Robin said, "A claw? It stabbed you?" Horatio said, "Yeah, and-" He tried to move, but winced with pain. The pained look on his face was soon replaced by curiosity again. Horatio looked at his leg. "A retractable claw..." Horatio said. "White, semi-transparent, with a purple center!" The captain said, "Horatio, me hearty, are ye capable of walking?" Horatio said, "I'll try." He tried to get up, and stumbled, but Robin and Andrew put their arms under him. Horatio smiled. Robin and Andrew had always been there for him. And with Robin, she was a friend throughout their lives, but now, he felt...different towards her. Andrew turned to the captain. "Hey, cap, you haven't been talking much. What's up?" The captain just waved his hand, and said, "Ah, let's just get to where we're go'n"

As they neared the top of the mountain, Andrew started to feel Horatio getting heavier. He looked, and Horatio started to stumble dizzily. Andrew said, "C'mon buddy, stay with me." Horatio suddenly snapped out of it, and said, "Sorry. I just suddenly felt really dizzy for some reason." Horatio tested his leg, stomping a couple of times, wincing, just not as badly as before, and said, "I think I can walk on my own strength now." Andrew and Robin carefully pulled their arms out from under him. He could walk. He limped, but he could walk. Then, they got to the top of the mountain.

In front of them stood a small, mossy, stone brick shrine, with a chest in the center, placed on top of a diamond block. Andrew quickly opened the chest. He pulled out the third JavaScroll. The captain laughed his hearty seaman's laugh. "Well?" Robin said. "Read it!" Andrew opened the JavaScroll. He read: "The next scroll is found in a faraway place, where it now stands high. You must go back to where you came from. BEWARE THE LIE." The captain then said, "Well then, let's get back home and find the fourth one!"

* * *

Once they got back to where the ship was docked, Andrew was about to lead Robin and Horatio up the ladder, when the captain stepped in front of them. "That's," he said, "Far enough." Andrew, perplexed, said, "What are you talking about?" The captain then looked upwards, and said, "Alright, sir, you can come out now." Suddenly, Andrew, Robin and Horatio heard a poof from behind them. Thinking it was an enderman, they drew their swords and turned, but in front of them stood...The Grand Council. The captain walked up next to them. Then, suddenly, in front of The Grand Council, and the captain, teleported a man with his back turned to Andrew. He had brown hair, a light blue shirt, blue jeans, and grey shoes. He turned to face Andrew, Robin, and Horatio. His eyes were glowing white.

Andrew said, "You're the guy I saw on the rock spire!" The man just stared at Andrew, then chuckled. He then spoke. "Yes, that would be me. Now, let's cut to the chase." He held out his hand. "The JavaScroll. Immediately." Andrew said, "So, you expect me to just _hand _you the JavaScroll? I don't even know you!" The man lowered his hand, then said, "You're right. Where are my manners? My name is Herobrine." His expression darkened. "But you will call me Master."

Andrew said, "So this is it, cap? Selling us out?" Then he turned to the council. "And even you? Why are you even doing this?!" Herobrine then said, "That's unimportant! Now, give me the JavaScroll!" Andrew and Horatio took out their swords, and Robin strung an arrow. Andrew said, "Come and get it." Herobrine's expression darkened even more. He turned. "So, that's how it's going to be." He said. Suddenly, he turned and waved his hand, and red shock wave threw Andrew, Robin, and Horatio away from Herobrine about 10 blocks. Herobrine then walked up to Andrew, and took the JavaScroll out of his hand. He then said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not bad." He grinned an evil grin. "But not good, either." He tossed a diamond sword to Herald. "Dispose of them." Herobrine said. "That is, if you can even do THAT right. I have a clue to follow." He walked away, and then teleported in a cloud of red dust. Herald walked up to Andrew, Robin, and Horatio. Herald held out the sword. He said, "Apologies, friends." Anthony then whispered something into Herald's ear. Herald nodded, then held his sword up, into the air. Andrew closed his eyes, bracing himself. Then the sword struck.

It didn't strike Andrew, however. It struck the ground next to him. Herald then said, "I'll leave you for the Creepers. That will show you what happens when you defy Master Herobrine." The council and the captain then went into the ship, and sailed away.


	8. Chapter 7: Beware the Lie

As the ship disappeared in the distance, Andrew, Horatio, and Robin just watched. Robin's eyes filled with tears. Andrew was doing well to hold them back. They had just been kicked out of their home. They found a rock, and sat down. Robin put her head in her hands, and Horatio comforted her. Horatio said, "So, now what are we going to do?" Andrew said, "I don't know. I guess we just live out here. This place is pretty terrible, but I've heard of people who actually survived in The Outside." He turned to where the ship was. "I guess we should have listened to the JavaScroll. Beware the lie." Horatio stopped for a moment, then he said, "Wait a minute. Maybe the scroll wasn't _warning _about a lie!" He turned to Andrew. "What if the JavaScroll _is _the lie!"

Robin looked up, and Andrew said, "What do you mean?" Horatio said, "I think that the third JavaScroll was lying the whole time! If you follow it to the letter, you won't find anything! You can't believe anything it says! It said it stood high, well, we need to go underground! It said it was in a far off place-" He paused for effect. "It's right where the third one was!"

* * *

The Blazerunner sailed into port. As the captain and The Grand Council left the ship, Herobrine appeared in front of them. He said, "Did you finish the job?" Herald nodded. Herobrine said, "Alright, now, let's move. We have a scroll to find."

* * *

As Andrew, Robin, and Horatio got up the mountain, Horatio started to feel dizzy again. He felt light headed, and nauseous. Andrew ran to Horatio, and put his arm under him. Horatio said, "Thanks. I have a question. Do you have any sticks on you?" Andrew said, "Yeah, I have about seven." Horatio said, "Can I use them?" Andrew gave Horatio the sticks, and Horatio laid them on the ground, and made them into a makeshift cane. Horatio tested it, to make sure it was stable, and said, "Yeah, that'll work." They kept climbing up the mountain. Horatio got dizzy one more time, and fell. He pulled up his pant leg. The wound where the enderman stabbed him was turning black. _I gotta get to a doctor._ Horatio thought. He got up, put his weight on the cane, and walked.

Soon, they got to the top of the mountain again, and they walked to where the third scroll was. Andrew kicked the chest off of the diamond block, and Andrew, Horatio, and Robin pushed the block aside. They saw a patch of dirt, and Robin took out a shovel, and dug. After a few blocks of digging, she struck something hard. She brushed off the dirt. It was a chest. She looked up to Andrew and Horatio. "I found it!" She shouted.

Robin opened the chest, and took out the scroll. She climbed up the side of the hole, and Andrew helped her out. They opened the scroll. I said, "Ah, I see you heeded my advice. If only more people did that, that'd be nice. The final JavaScroll is what you now read, now here's one more piece of advice to heed. Go east, and the final clue will finally be seen. In the forest, not a scroll, but something else is the key."


	9. Chapter 8: To The Forest

Andrew said, "Well, Herobrine isn't going to be happy about this. We'd better find whatever is in the forest before he does." Horatio nodded. "Agreed." He said. Then, suddenly, he fell to the ground. Andrew and Robin leaned in towards him. Robin said, "Horatio?" He didn't answer. "Horatio!" Andrew said. Then, suddenly, Horatio woke up. Horatio said, "Guys, there's something seriously wrong with me." Robin said, "Andrew, is he going to be alright?" Andrew shook his head. "Doesn't look like it." Andrew put his arm under Horatio, and helped him up. They looked out from the top of the mountain. In the far distance, they could see trees. As Robin looked out, she felt a wave of anger go through her. Their leaders betrayed them, they were stranded on an island, with no way of getting back, Horatio might be dying, and as far as she was concerned, it was Herobrine's fault. Her anger got to the point that she took one of the blue orbs from the enderman, and threw it off of the cliff as far as she could. She turned away. Suddenly, when the blue orb hit the ground below the mountain, Robin disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. "Robin!" Horatio shouted. Suddenly, they heard Robin groaning from the base of the mountain. They quickly looked over the side, and saw Robin exactly where the blue orb landed, on the ground 100 blocks away, in obvious pain. Andrew said, "Hang on! We're coming!" Andrew looked around, looking for a way down, but saw none. He pulled out another blue orb from his pack. He quickly threw it over next to where Robin was. When the blue orb hit the ground and shattered, Horatio and Andrew disappeared. For a moment, Andrew and Horatio saw time go in slow motion. A rock, falling down the side of the mountain, was almost stationary. But Horatio and Andrew were still going extremely fast. The ground rushed toward them, and they suddenly found themselves on the ground, almost as if they hit an obsidian wall.

* * *

"Well, then, WHERE IS IT?!" Herobrine shouted. Him, The Grand Council, and the captain were in the middle of a forest. There were holes dug everywhere. Herald jumped back. He said, "W-well, sir, we don't really know. The JavaScroll wasn't very specific." Herobrine turned away, and said, "JavaScrolls are always specific!" He opened the scroll. "We must have missed something." He read through the scroll. Then, suddenly, he grinned. He said, "Ah-ha! It says, 'You must go back to where you came from'!" Herald said, "What do you mean?". Herobrine slowly said, "It MEANS, you idiot, that you need to go back to spawn!"

* * *

Andrew, Robin, and Horatio just laid there for a minute. Robin said, "What..." she tried to get up, but fell to the ground again. "was that?" Andrew said, "Whatever it was, let's agree to not do this again." Horatio, suddenly energized by this remarkable new discovery, shot up. He said, "AMAZING!" He stumbled for a moment, but regained his footing. He than said, "We just found out how endermen teleport! That blue orb must be the organ responsible! It's so hard that it doesn't decompose with the rest of them!" Andrew said, "Horatio. As remarkable as this is, go get us some mushroom soup." Horatio said, "Oh, yeah." He walked, then stumbled again. "Fine time for symptoms." He stumbled a little more towards a red cow, and got out a bucket. "Come here little..." he thought for a moment. "Mooshroom. I just want some soup." He milked the Mooshroom, and brought the soup over to Andrew and Robin. He put a little in their mouths, and they started to get up. Robin said, "Thanks." She thought, _Thanks? You can do better than that! Think! _She stopped. She said, "That's it!" She reached into her pack, and brought out an odd yellow apple. "I forgot I even had this!" Robin said. Horatio said, "Is that a..." Robin said, "Golden Apple? Yeah. I saved all of my gold and made it, for a rainy day. It's supposed to cure whatever ails you. Temporarily, at least." Horatio said, "But that takes eight gold blocks! 72 gold bars total! I can't just eat-" Robin shoved the apple into Horatio's mouth. She said, "It's worth it." Horatio swallowed, then smiled. He looked into her eyes and said, "I feel better already."

Andrew said, "Hey, check it out! We just cut our travel time to the forest in half! Let's go!" Everybody ran. Horatio's leg had healed up, and some of the symptoms had gone away, but something still just didn't settle right with him. Andrew ran towards the forest at full sprint. _If only I had Atticus here! _He thought. He looked up. The sun was setting. They needed to find shelter. Quickly.


	10. Chapter 9: Norwood

As they walked through the forest, Andrew saw a stream going through a clearing. He said, "Hey, guys! Water!" When they got to the stream, Andrew and Robin drank thirstily. Horatio just stood back for a while. Andrew said, "Horatio? Don't you want a drink?" Horatio said, "No, no, I'm not really thirsty." Andrew said, "Alright, then." After they had finished drinking, they kept walking through the forest. Andrew glanced at Horatio, to see if he was keeping up. Horatio suddenly said, "Stop looking at me like that!" Andrew said, "Like what? I was just checking to see if you were alright." Horatio paused, then said, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Soon, it had gotten dark. The sun was hardly visible anymore, and they could see the moon rising in the distance. Andrew was getting more nervous by the minute. They had to get inside. Now. Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes. Robin, bow drawn, and Horatio and Andrew, swords drawn, turned towards the noise. Four pairs of glowing purple eyes stared back at them.

* * *

Herald watched as several workers dug at spawn point, in front of the fire pit. They had already dug more than 50 blocks under. Then, one of them shouted, "No go, sir! We hit bedrock!" Herald was silent, then said, "Anthony. You're in charge of Notchton in my absence. Constantine, you are to listen to him as you would me. Captain, you stay in the boundaries." Herald walked towards The Trekker's path. He boarded a cart, and left the boundaries. He jumped off, and walked into the forest, where Herobrine was waiting. Herobrine said, "Did you get it?" Herald said, "Unfortunately, sir, no." Herobrine, furious, walked away, and smashed his fist on a boulder. The boulder turned to dust. Herobrine said, "You TOLD me you had the most capable men of finding it! What's the matter?! Were you LYING to-" Herobrine paused. "Beware the Lie." He said. He chuckled. "Clever. The JavaScroll was lying the whole time! We need to get back to The Mushroom Island!"

* * *

Robin shot two arrows into the darkness, but the pairs of eyes just disappeared. Then, Andrew heard a hissing from behind them. _Not this time. _He thought. He turned, swinging his sword, cutting the Creeper in two before it could blow. Suddenly, a huge spider jumped out from behind a bush on top of Andrew. He threw it off, and him, Robin, and Horatio, ran as fast as their legs could take them. As they ran, they always heard footsteps behind them, and then, suddenly, three endermen teleported in front of them. They ran to the left, and found themselves in front of a sheer rock face. There was no way out. Robin shot three arrows at a time, but eventually ran out. Andrew's sword was weakened, and so was Horatio's. Even if their swords were brand new, there were still too many of them. Then, suddenly, something landed in front of them. It was a person! He wore a black hooded cloak, carried a bow and quiver, and had a long brown beard. He shouted to Horatio, Robin and Andrew, "Take cover!" He shot an arrow at an enderman. It exploded on impact, sending several other mobs flying. A spider jumped at him, but he took an arrow out, made the spider land on it, and the spider immediately froze solid. He swung the arrow with the frozen spider, and hit a creeper with it, sending the creeper flying back, and shattering the frozen spider on impact. He shot another arrow at a large green blob, and it promptly caught fire. Then, he shot an arrow at the ground in the center of the horde, and lightning struck, sending mobs flying in all directions. When the dust cleared, there was nothing but gunpowder, blue orbs, string, and slimeballs in a smoldering wreckage. He looked at Andrew, Robin, and Horatio. "Are you alright?" Andrew said, "Y-yeah. At the risk of sounding cliche', who _are _you?!" The man said, "I'll explain everything later. Follow me. We need to get to my house."

As the man led them quickly through the forest, the sounds of rustling could be heard throughout the forest, but none of the noises dared to move closer. Then, they saw a little log cabin, surrounded by a fence and torches. They ran into the house. The man walked inside, but didn't lower his hood. Robin, after catching her breath, said, "Alright, now, who are you?" The man said, "My name is Norwood Oakley. I live out here in the forest." Andrew said, "Well, Norwood, I guess we owe you." The man smiled. He said warmly, "Anytime. It looks like I have a few guests tonight." He looked across the house, and shouted "Sly? Sly!" A wolf with a collar on ran out from one of the rooms. He sat down next to Norwood. Norwood said, "This is my dog, Sly." The dog barked.

* * *

Herobrine remembered the exact coordinates where The Mushroom Island was. He had a knack for that. Soon, they got to the island, and Herobrine said, "Alright. The JavaScroll was lying, so that means..." He went over it in his head. "The next JavaScroll is directly underneath the third one." Herobrine concentrated, and only barely managed to teleport him and the four others to the top of the mushroom mountain. Ever since that fateful day he and his brother faced...his eyes softened. He slowly said, In a calmer, more serene voice, "What did I do?" Suddnely, his expression darkened, and he said to himself, "What you had to! Besides, look at you now! Even you could be better, you used to be nothing!" He walked up to the shrine. He saw that the diamond block had been moved, and a chest sat next to a very deep hole. Herobrine looked inside the chest. There was nothing in it. Herobrine turned to Herald, who looked absolutely terrified. Herobrine said, "Herald. What exactly happened?" His voice was soft, and extremely dangerous. Herald gulped. He said, "W-w-w-well...It would appear that...someone retrieved the JavaScroll." Herobrine softly said, "Right! So, someone opened the chest. But, wait! This island is deserted! So, who could have opened it? Unless, maybe..." His expression suddenly turned to rage. His eyes turned fiery, Lightning flashed all around them, creating deafening thunder claps, and Herobrine's voice deepened and amplified to the point that he could be heard over the thunder. He shouted in a booming voice, "YOU DISOBEYED A DIRECT ORDER, AND DID NOT GET RID OF THOSE KIDS!" The thunder stopped, and Herobrine's voice returned to normal. Even though Herobrine was exhausted, he still got up the strength to grab Herald by the neck, and lift him in the air. Herobrine said, "Give me one reason to not crush your puny neck right now! Thanks to you, we lost the JavaScroll!" Herald gasped, "Kids...couldn't survive...alone! Only need...their bodies!" Herobrine dropped Herald to the ground. Herald gasped for breath, then said, "The kid's couldn't have survived the night by themselves. If we find their bodies, we find the next JavaScroll!" Herobrine leaned in toward Herald. He was silent for a moment, then he said, "If you don't find that scroll..." He looked up, and said to all of them, "So help me, I'll feed you to a Blaze!" He paused. Then he said, "Actually, that give me a better idea." He threw a diamond pickaxe down at Herald. Herald flinched, but the pickaxe landed in front of him. Herobrine said, "Bring me ten obsidian blocks by nightfall!"


	11. Chapter 10: Spardrid

As Andrew, Robin, Horatio, and Norwood sat around the table, eating mushroom soup and steak, Robin asked, "So, Norwood. This place is supposed to be deserted. How'd you get here?" Norwood said, "Well, young miss, I'll tell you. You see, I used to be a Trekker. I was actually on the mission that took us to The Mushroom Island. Unfortunately, we never did get to explore this continent in it's entirety, because we were suddenly attacked by a horde of slimes, endermen, skellies, creepers, the whole nine yards. I was injured pretty badly, and I went unconscious. The rest of the Trekkers took me for dead, so they left me on the island. I woke up, found myself marooned, but eventually found this forest, and managed to survive here ever since."

Andrew said, "I also have a question. You know about the Book of Notch, right?" Norwood said, "As a matter of fact, yes. More than most people. You see, I actually met the owner of this book." Horatio said, "You've met Stevie?!" Norwood said, "Yes. He even told me a clue to tell to anyone who shows me the fourth JavaScroll." Norwood said, "I probably sound like an insane old coot now, don't I?" Andrew, Horatio, and Robin stared at each other, wide eyed. Andrew said, "In the forest, not a scroll, but something else is the key!" Norwood's eyes widened. He then smiled, and said, "Well, that little verse sounds a wee bit familiar." Andrew pulled the fourth JavaScroll out of his pocket, and showed it to Norwood. He looked it over, and he said, "Well, I guess I'm obliged to tell you the next clue now, aren't I?" Andrew said, "If you feel like it." Norwood set down the scroll, and said, "Alright then, here goes. The Book of Notch will only show itself to those worthy to bear it."

Everyone was silent. Andrew said, "That's it? No location? No nothing?" Norwood said, "That's all Stevie told me." After a bit more silence, Norwood said, "Well, It looks like you may have to stay here for a while, so I'll just let you get going to bed."

As Andrew laid in bed next to Horatio, Andrew noticed that Horatio wasn't sleeping. Andrew said, "Get some sleep, Horatio." Horatio shook his head. He said, "I can't." Andrew turned to face Horatio. "What's been going on, lately? What with the odd behavior?" Horatio said, "Dude, stop looking at me that way!" Andrew said, "I wasn't looking at you in an odd way, I was just asking what's been going on." Horatio said, "I'm guessing the venom. It must not have worn off from the golden apple." Horatio turned over, trying to sleep. He said, "But I think I'm getting better, anyway." Andrew said, "You just want to act fine, so you don't worry Robin, don't you?" Horatio said, "Dude, I-" Andrew said, "Come on, I know you have a thing going on for her. I saw how you looked at her after she gave you the golden apple." Horatio said, "Andrew, Robin is-" Andrew continued, saying, "And how worried you looked when she teleported with that blue orb!" Horatio whispered, "Andrew! Robin is hearing this!" Andrew stopped. "Oh." On the opposite side of the wall, Robin laid in her bed, and she turned over to go to sleep. She was smiling.

* * *

Herald walked up to Herobrine, covered in dust, along with Anthony, Constantine, and the captain. Herobrine said, "Well?! Did you find them?!" Herald said, "Y-yes, sir." Herald gave Herobrine 10 obsidian blocks. Herobrine turned around, and began to place them down, one by one, creating an odd looking structure, looking kind of like a portal, with a 2x3 hole in the middle. He then raised his hand in the air, concentrated with everything he had, and his hand burst into flames. He brought his fist down on the inside of the portal. When he pulled his hand back, a small flame was inside the structure. Herald wondered what Herobrine was doing. What could he hope to accomplish by this? Then, something strange happened. The flame started to turn purple! Then, it lifted into the air, and began to swirl around, becoming steadily bigger, until it filled up the hole in the structure. Then, the fire looked like it was dying down, but at the smae time not losing it's substance, only leaving a transparent purple rift in the middle of the structure. Herald was awestruck. _A nether portal!_ He thought. _It exists!_ Herobrine turned to Herald. Herobrine said, "Don't move an inch until I get back! I have to see someone."

Herobrine stepped in front the portal. For a moment, he felt nothing. Then, he felt a slight tug. That tug grew, and grew, until he was yanked off of his feet into the portal. He flew through a purple tunnel between dimensions, then suddenly, he was standing still again. He walked onto the ground in front of him. It was red, warm, not quite as hard as rock, but not quite as soft as dirt. Netherrack. He was there. He was in the Nether. He walked through the cave it had landed him in. He remembered when he and his brother discovered this place. The dimension of fire. He looked at the torch hanging on the wall of the cave. The first torch they placed in here. If they were anyone else, they would have thought they had actually found the netherworld, the land of the dead, but it turned out to be another version of earth, in a different dimension. In this dimension, the earth was covered in bedrock at the crust, and underneath was netherrack and lava, with caverns and tunnels everywhere. He thought, _If only by brother were here._ He quickly pushed the thought out of his head. He said to himself, "You don't need him! You're already close to getting the power he only dreamed of!" He walked to where the cave ended, and saw a massive cavern, with oceans of lava everywhere, and in it, right in front of him, to be exact, was a huge fortress. It was made of a dark red colored brick. He walked across a bridge made of cobblestone onto one of the pathways, and walked. He walked through the hallway, knowing exactly which turns to take, and where. He then saw a staircase about 10 blocks in front of him. He stopped. He waited. _I know they'll come for me._ He thought. Suddenly, he heard an odd breathing sound. Not like a human's breathing. He stood. Suddenly, down the staircase came a being with it's head floating in mid air, surrounded by fiery limbs that orbited around him like moons. A Blaze. It materialized a fireball, and shot it at Herobrine. Herobrine caught it, and threw it at the floor in front of the Blaze. It exploded, and sent the Blaze flying back into the wall. Then, 50 more came down the stairs, and Herobrine slowly said, "I don't really feel like fighting right now, I just want to see Spardrid." The Blazes materialized fireballs, and aimed them at Herobrine. Herobrine sighed, then said, "If you insist." He waved his hand, summoning a shockwave, blowing out all of the Blaze's fires. As he walked over the suffocating Blazes, he went up the stairs, where there was a large room, the roof made of glass, showing thousands of Blazes, prepared for battle. In the center of the room was a throne, and in it was a blaze that was slightly larger than the rest, and it's fire burned so hot that it was white. He wore a fiery crown on his head made of netherrack, and in the center was a shard of glowstone. The blaze lifted into the air. It then said in a deep, hissing, snarly voice, "Bryan! What do you want?!" Herobrine held up his hand. He said, "Yes, hello to you too, Spardrid. And my name is no longer Bryan. I am Herobrine." Spardrid said, "Why are you here?!" Herobrine said, "I know we may have had a rough past, but I want to make up for that. I never thought I would say this in my lifetime, but I need your help." Spardird said, "If memory serves, you and your brother destroyed half of my troops last time you were here! Why would you expect me to suddenly HELP you?!" Herobrine said, "Because I have something to offer in return." Spardrid said, "What could you offer me that I cannot obtain by another means?" Herobrine held up a piece of paper. Spardrid looked at it. He slowly said, "Is that what I think it is?" Herobrine nodded. Spardrid said, "Fine. I'll help you." He paused. He said, "But what of your brother?" Herobrine said, "Don't worry. Stevie's gone."


	12. Chapter 11: Found

Andrew woke up to Robin shaking him. Robin said, "Andrew! Horatio's gone!" Andrew shot up, and looked to where Horatio was sleeping. He was gone. Andrew threw aside the bed sheets, and ran through the house, and ran out the door. He and Robin looked around, calling Horatio's name, and Norwood ran out from the forest to them. Andrew said, "Norwood? What are you doing out here?" Norwood said, "That's unimportant. What happened?" Robin said, "Horatio's gone!" Norwood said, "Oh, is that it? I saw him sleeping up in a spruce tree. I came to tell you." Robin said, "He's sleeping in a _tree?_"

Andrew and Robin walked up to the large spruce tree, and saw a pair of legs hanging off of the top, and some snoring coming from the top of the tree. Roin shouted, "Horatio?!" The legs kind of twitched, and she heard Horatio say, "C'mon, I only just got to sleep!" Andrew said, "But you're in a tree!" Horatio was still, then he sat up. He looked around. He said, "Sweet cocoa beans, how did I get up here?!" Robin said, "Your guess is a good as mine, but can you get down?" Horatio stood up, about to jump into a small pond next to the tree, then suddenly, blacked out again. He started to fall backwards, and Robin said, "Not again!" He fell down the side of the tree, and Norwood ran up and caught Horatio. He set Horatio down on the ground. Andrew said, "Wow, you're tougher than you look!" Norwood said, "Well, I may be an old hermit, but I still excersise." Norwood said, "Hmmm. Andrew. You said Horatio had developed some strange tendencies?" Andrew nodded, and Norwood said, "Like what?" Andrew said, "Well, he keeps thinking I'm looking at him funny, and it irritates him and it's gotten harder for him to sleep." Norwood said, "When did these symptoms start?" Andrew said, "We were attacked by a group of monsters." Norwood stroked his beard. He said, "Hm. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was-" Horatio woke up. Norwood, Robin, and Andrew looked at him. Andrew asked, "Are you okay, buddy?" Horatio said, "No, I'm not okay! How did I even get up there, and why has everybody suddenly started looking at me funny?!"

* * *

Herobrine walked out of the portal after about an hour. The council and the captain hadn't moved, just like Herobrine had told them to. Herobrine walked out of the portal, and said, "You might want to stand back." Herald, Anthony, Constantine, and the captain backed away, and they heard an odd breathing sound coming from the other side of the portal. That one breathing turned into two. Then four. Then eight. Soon, there were thousands of them. Then, suddenly, thousands of Blazes flooded out of the portal, and shot up into the sky, lighting up the sky almost as if it were day, and after the last of them came out, a large white blaze came out. Herobrine turned to everyone. He said, "This is my associate, Spardrid. From this point on, you will be taking orders from him and me only. Is that understood?"

* * *

Norwood, Andrew, Robin, and Horatio walked into the cabin again. Norwood said, "Well, if you kids are this troublesome to keep track of, you're going to need to learn to survive. Lessons begin now." He walked up to a small table, and said, "You know what this is?" They shook their heads. Andrew said, "We just buy our stuff over in Notchton." Norwood sighed. He said, "This is your greatest tool. The crafting table. It allows you to make almost anything imaginable." Andrew walked up to it. He said, "So, how do I use it?"

Later, Norwood was standing next to Andrew, Robin, and Horatio in front of a tree. Andrew said, "Sorry, I must be hearing things, I thought you said 'Punch the tree'!" Norwood said, "That's exactly what I said." Andrew said, "You can't just PUNCH a tree!" Norwood said, "There's actually a knack to it, you have to concentrate really hard, clench your fist as hard as you can..." Norwood held his hand up, clenched it into a fist, and he said, "Then, you pull back straight..." He pulled his fist back, "And punch the tree squarely in the center of the trunk." He threw a punch at the tree, and his fist went straight through it, taking out a piece of the tree. The top half floated in mid-air. Horatio said, "Have you ever wondered why trees float?" Andrew said, "We've got a lot to learn."

After a few days, though, Norwood had taught Andrew, Robin, and Horatio how to survive. It took a lot of hard work, and occasional pain, but they did it. Norwood had even taught them to mine. One night, Robin sat next to a pond in a fenced in area, lit by torches, watching the night sky. She wore full iron armor, just like Andrew and Horatio, when they learned how to mine. Horatio walked up behind Robin. Horatio sat down next to her. Horatio said, "Hey, Robin?" Robin said, "Yeah?" Horatio said, "On the first night we got to Norwood's place, did you happen to...hear anything odd that night?" Robin said, "No, not really." Horatio said with relief, "Oh, ok." They were silent for a moment. Then Robin said, "So, how worried _did _you look? When I used that...umm...I think Norwood said Ender Pearl." Horatio said, "So, you DID hear?" Robin said, "Yeah, I just didn't consider it odd." Horatio said, "Well, while we're on the subject of that little event, remember when you gave me the golden apple right after?" Robin said, "Yes." Horatio said, "Well, I guess I owe you this." He reached in his pocket, and took out three diamonds, and handed them to Robin. Robin said, "Wow! How'd you find these?" Horatio said, "Well, it wasn't easy. I actually had to find two deposits to get these three." Robin said, "Is that where you went for so long?" Horatio said, "Yep." Robin said, "But why did your armor have scorch marks when you came back?" Horatio said, "I...heh heh...I almost fell in lava." Robin said, "So, you almost died, just to pay me back for the golden apple? It didn't even work for that long!" Horatio felt a little light headed, but the feeling went away after a second. Horatio said, "It's worth it." Robin smiled. They started to lean in towards each other, but then, something odd happened. Robin could have sworn she saw something purple in the corner of her eye. She backed away. "What?" Horatio said. Robin saw it again. A small purple particle. Then she noticed some black veiny markings on Horatio's arm. She said, "What's that?" Horatio looked at his arm. He said, "I have no ide-" He clutched his head. He stood up, and he cried out in pain, his voice getting oddly deeper and more distorted. Then, he felt himself fall to the ground as he slowly drifted from consciousness.

Robin dragged Horatio into Norwood's house, and Andrew and Norwood shot up from the table. Andrew said, "What happened?!" Robin said, "We were just talking, and Horatio blacked out!" Then, suddenly, there was an explosion from outside. Norwood looked out the window. Outside, he only saw smoke, then two glowing white eyes shining through. Norwood's eyes widened. Norwood turned around. He said, "We have to go!" He picked up Horatio and slung him over his shoulder, then he nodded his head towards a corner, and said to Andrew, "Go break the floor block in that corner!" Andrew ran to the corner, and, using what Norwood taught him, he punched through the floorboards. There was only stone underneath. Norwood pushed a pressure plate, and the stone moved aside, showing a deep hole with water underneath. Suddenly, the wall exploded in, and among the fiery hole came in about a dozen Blazes. Norwood pushed Andrew down the hole, then Robin, then he jumped. They landed in a pool of water, and the stone hole closed up behind them.

Herobrine walked through the hole in the wall, and looked around. He summoned another shockwave, blowing out the fire, and he looked around the singed house. He saw only the insides of a normal house. No signs of life. He grimaced. He turned around to leave, but stopped. He saw a bow on the ground. He picked it up, and on it was carved the word 'Robin'. He shouted, "They were here!" Herald walked in. Herobrine held up the bow, and said, "You were wrong, Herald. They survived. And now they have help!"

* * *

Robin, Andrew, and Norwood walked through the tunnel the secret entrance had landed them in. Soon, the tunnel ended with a wall made of mossy stone bricks, with a door in it. Norwood opened the door. Inside was a massive library, with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. "Welcome to the stronghold." Norwood said. Robin placed down a bed, and Norwood put Horatio down on it. Andrew and Norwood leaned over Horatio, and Robin paced worriedly. Norwood looked at the markings on Horatio's arm. His eyes widened. "Oh no." He said. Robin asked, "What? What's wrong?" Norwood said, "How exactly did he get his injury?" Andrew said, "We were attacked by a group of endermen." Norwood said, "Was there anything strange about them?" Andrew thought and said, "Actually, yes! Horatio said one of them had a retractable claw! It stabbed him with it." Norwood said, "This is not good! This is not good!" Robin turned Norwood to face her. She said, "_What's wrong with him?!_" Norwood said, "Don't you know already?" Robin said, "No! How should I know?!" Norwood paused. He said, "So, your council was supposed to be these high and mighty smart people, and they _didn't know about this?!_" Norwood turned, and punched a bookcase, sending books flying. He shouted, "Notch-forsaken, slime ridden IDIOTS! Just one false move, and all of Notchton could've been infected!" He turned to Robin. His voice calmed a bit. He said, "Robin, the enderman is not a naturally occurring creature. It's a virus." He turned to Horatio. He said, "And your friend's been infected."


	13. Chapter 12: Secrets Revealed

Nobody spoke for a moment. Robin said, "So...Horatio's turning into...an enderman?" Norwood said, "Yes. I know this virus well. I've seen it happen before." Robin said, "Then why didn't you tell us earlier?!" Norwood said, "Because you didn't treat it very seriously! I thought that was because there was nothing wrong with him, not because you didn't know about the Ender Virus!" Andrew said, "How can we cure him?" Norwood said, "There is no cure." Everyone was silent. Andrew said, "So...he's gone?" Norwood gravely shook his head. He said, "I'm sorry." Robin, fighting tears, asked, "What _exactly _happens?" Norwood said, "Well, early symptoms are what you saw at first. Dizziness, nausea, blackouts. Then, he develops odd tendencies, such as becoming more active at night, disliking people looking at him, and particles beginning to develop. Also in this stage, his heart begins to swell, rounden out, and harden, becoming his ender pearl. This is what's keeping him alive right now. His ender pearl is now fully developed, and he-" Norwood looked up. Horatio had moved from the bed, and was now lying on the floor about five blocks away. "-can teleport sporadically. Soon, he's going to enter the second stage. At the end of the third stage, he's gone completely."

* * *

They stayed in the stronghold for a few days, Andrew reading different books, not having anything else to do. He could hardly read them, though, with the constant thought of his best friend turning into the thing Andrew feared most. He started rummaging through the bookshelf, when he saw a small green book. He took it out, and saw that it had no title. He looked through it. He walked across the library, over to Robin, who was sitting next to the bed, where they had put Horatio back. Andrew sat next to her, and said, "Hm. This book isn't bad." Robin was silent. Then, she said, "I can't believe he's gone." Horatio said with a distorted voice, "Who's gone?" Robin shot up, followed by Andrew. Robin said, "Horatio! Are you alright?!" Horatio said, "I don't think so. I think I may black out again soon." He looked at Robin. He said, "Where are we?" Robin said, "In Norwood's secret stronghold. We're safe." Horatio said, "Safe." He turned his head back. He said, "I think that's a relative term."

* * *

About an hour later, Horatio had gone unconscious again, and Andrew kept reading the little green book. Norwood walked by, and he glanced at Andrew, and did a double take. Andrew said, "Hey, Norwood. This book's pretty good. What's it called?" Norwood was silent. Andrew kept looking through the book. He stopped at one of the pages. He looked up at Norwood. Andrew said, "What's this?" He held up the book. Inside it, the chapter title said, "On JavaScripting". Norwood was silent for a little while longer. He then looked at Andrew and Robin, and then said, "You're worthy. I think it's time you knew the truth." For the first time, Norwood took off his cloak. Then, he took off the beard. Norwood then said, with a younger sounding, more serene voice, "My name is not Norwood Oakley. My name is Stevie. You're holding the Book of Notch."


	14. Chapter 13: Chronicles of Stevie

Andrew and Robin just stood there. If you need clarification for how this kind of event would feel, think of finding Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster at the same time. Then, Andrew said, "You're...this is...it's the..." Robin said, "You're the JavaScripter! But you look exactly like Herobrine!" It was true, Stevie looked exactly like Herobrine, with the exception of having blue eye colors instead of having none at all. Stevie said, "Have a seat. I have a lot to explain." Andrew and Robin sat in two chairs, and Stevie sat down in front of them. He said, "Alright, where to start? Where to start?" He thought for a moment, then Andrew said, "At the beginning! Tell us everything!" Stevie smiled, and said, "Alright, I'll start from the beginning.

"I was not the first minecrafter, as most people would tell you. I was one of the two first minecrafters. Me, and my twin brother, Bryan. Created from almost identical code by Notch, we had two major differences. My eyes were blue, his were green, and I was more cautious, while he was wild spirited, and outgoing. We didn't spawn in the world as babies, we were fully grown when we spawned. When we spawned..."

* * *

Stevie and Bryan looked up. Down from the sky, fell a comet. The comet landed, but not with the kind of impact you would expect from a comet. It was a man. He wore brown clothing, wore a cape, and had a small black beard. He walked to Stevie and Bryan. Bryan said, "Who are you?" The man chuckled, and said, "My name is Notch. I'm the one who created you two. You two, Stevie, and Bryan, are the first beings to ever set foot in this brave new world." He gestured for them to follow. Stevie and Bryan followed Notch to the top of a mountain. He showed them the vast, sprawling landscape of forests, winter biomes, plains, and all the animals living there. Stevie and Bryan stood there, awestruck. Notch said, "Amazing, isn't it?" He turned to Stevie and Bryan. He said, "It's yours. It's up to you two to make this land livable. There are more minecrafters coming, but I'll only send them once you are ready. Be warned, the night is not something to be taken lightly. You're going to need a guide. Unfortunately, I have other business in the world that I'm from, so I'll leave you with this." He handed Stevie a small green book. "And this." Notch said, handing a small blue orb, kind of like an ender pearl, but softer, to Bryan.

"That book," Stevie said, "Was the book of Notch. When Notch left, Bryan and I immediately got to work, building our house, and laying the groundwork for a massive city to be populated by the minecrafters to follow. We decided to name this city after the man who created us. We named the city Notchton. If you look over the wall, you can actually see our house on top of the mountain." Andrew thought, and his mind went to the house he saw on the mountain, when he left the walls of Notchton. Stevie said, "Bryan took care of a lot of the building, but me, I was more of a scientist. I was especially interested in learning how to JavaScript, because if I found out how to do that, we could build the city ten times as quickly." Robin excitedly exclaimed, "Wait a minute! If you know how to JavaScript, you can use that to cure Horatio! Right?" Stevie shook his head, and said, "I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way." He stood up, and said, "Follow me." He led them to a wall full of bookcases. He took two bookcases out, revealing a door, and they walked through. Inside, there was a huge room, and in the center was a massive machine. Stevie said, "This is the Minecraft Forge. It alters reality, allowing for creation, storage, and use of Modifications to Reality and Time. Mods, for short." Stevie turned to Andrew and Robin, and said, "The blue orb that Notch gave Bryan was a ball of Endrosium, the power core for the Minecraft Forge. I can't summon JavaScript, but I can still manipulate it with this device with a few lines of code. But unfortunately...it's inoperative. More on why later, but on with the story. I began work on the Forge, from the blueprints I found in The Book of Notch. Then I had finally finished.

* * *

Stevie walked back from the machine he had just completed. Hopefully. He wasn't sure if it would work. Bryan walked in from working on material gathering, and said, "Is it finished? I could really use something to get rid of these back pains!" Bryan and Stevie laughed, and Stevie said, "It should be finished. I'm powering it up right now." He flipped the switch on the wall. At first, nothing happened. Then, they head a whirring noise. That noise grew louder, and louder, until it was deafening, then a bright blue beam shot into the sky, followed by the machine quieting down. Stevie looked at the screen mounted on the Forge. His eyes widened. He turned to Bryan. He said, "It's working!"

* * *

"The Minecraft Forge worked." Stevie said. "Bryan and I immediately began creating mods. We must have made hundreds of them. We gave ourselves superhuman abilities. I only gave myself strength and elemental arrows, which are the arrows you saw me use in the forest, when I saved you. But the Hero mod...If it wasn't for that one coding error..."

* * *

Stevie and Bryan had just completed their latest mod, which was meant to be a helper for Bryan and Stevie. Bryan said to Stevie, "Alright, I finished texturing it!" Stevie said, "Great! Let me just finish this one line of code...finished! Compiling and installing!" They stood back, as blue particles emanated from the Forge, Came together, and materialized. Right off, Stevie could tell something was wrong. Once their helper, Hero, was finished materializing, he didn't seem to have substance. He was transparent. He had glowing white eyes. He lifted into the air. Bryan walked towards Hero, but Stevie stopped him. Stevie said, "Greetings!" Hero looked at Stevie and Bryan. Stevie said, "My name is Stevie! This is my brother Bryan!" Hero looked at them. Then, he said with a deep booming voice, "Underlings." Bryan said, "What?" Hero threw a shockwave at Stevie and Bryan, and Hero flew off. Bryan stood up, and Stevie said, "Bryan! Get him!" Bryan said, "No problem!" Bryan took off, flying at extreme speed. He caught up to Hero, threw a shockwave, and sent Hero to the ground. They faced each other. Hero looked at Bryan, and said, "Hm. Maybe it _will _do." Hero lunged at Bryan, and Bryan lunged at Hero, but then the oddest thing happened. Hero went inside Bryan. Bryan then fell to the ground, unconscious. Stevie caught up to Bryan, wearing full diamond armor, and carrying a net launcher they used for containing mobs. Stevie ran up to Bryan, and helped him up. Bryan was regaining consciousness, and Stevie said, "Bryan! Where's Hero?" Bryan said, "I can't remember. I think I...yeah, I got him!" Stevie said, "What?" Bryan said, "Yeah, the battle was hard-fought, but I won out, eventually." Stevie said, "Hm. Well, let's go clean up."

* * *

Stevie said, "Little did I realize that Hero had become a mod himself, and melded with Bryan's code. Hero was taking over. Soon, with the help of mods, we completed Notchton. We even discovered a new dimension in the process. The Nether. It was an alternate version of earth, where everything was underground. We defeated the forces of the blazes, which you saw earlier, and their king, Spardrid. Population was underway in Notchton. Soon, though, I noticed oddities in Bryan's behavior. His eye color was turning paler, and he was becoming more aggressive. Something was there that shouldn't have been."

* * *

"You're going to do what?" Bryan asked. Stevie said, "Look, it's just a little mod flush. I delete the mods, and re-install them, just to be sure nothing is there that shouldn't be." Bryan said, "There's no need! I'm the picture of health! Better, even!" Stevie said, "Why are you making such a big deal over this? It's fine!" Stevie turned to the Forge console, and began to say, "Forge, wipe modification data on user-" Suddenly, something struck him in the side and into the tools cabinet. Bryan put down his diamond shovel. His eyes were completely white. "Bryan!" Stevie shouted. "What are you doing?!" Bryan said, "My name is not Bryan! You knew me as Hero, but now, I have melded with Bryan! I am _Herobrine!_" Stevie grabbed the net cannon from the shelf, and then aimed and fired it at Herobrine. Herobrine was thrown against the wall, trapped under a layer of spider webs. Stevie shot several more layers, and Herobrine struggled to get free. Steve limped up to the Forge console. He said, "Forge! Begin mod wipe on user Bryan!" The Forge said with a mechanical voice, "Beginning Data Wipe." Herobrine shouted "No!" He began to break through the webs. Stevie said, "Forge! Standby for fail safe subroutine!" The Forge said, "Beginning teleportation protocols." Herobrine finally broke out of the webs when the Data wipe meter was at 80%, and Stevie dodged as Herobrine threw a punch. Herobrine's fist went into the Forge, and he grabbed the ball of Endrosium in the center. He could feel himself getting weaker. Stevie shouted, "Activate fail safe!" Both him, and the Forge disappeared, leaving Herobrine with a crushed ball of Endrosium in his hand. He grimaced, then tried to fly away, but couldn't. He tried again. Nothing. He shouted out in anger, throwing a shockwave at the wall. It made a huge hole, and he jumped through it.

In the middle of an odd-looking place filled with giant mushrooms and red cows, the Minecraft Forge and Stevie appeared. Stevie lay on the ground for a moment. He had no idea where he was. He was lost.

* * *

Stevie said, "I was stranded on this island, where I only had the Forge, and my elemental arrows. Herobrine had lost a lot of his power, and he's willing to do anything to get it back. I guess your council was selected from your city's population, they teamed up with Herobrine, presumably to use the Forge on themselves, and Herobrine allied with the blazes. That's the end of the story." After some silence, Robin said, "So...your brother caused all this to happen?" Stevie said, "No, Bryan didn't, Herobrine did. Bryan's still in there somewhere. If the Forge were operational, I could cure Bryan for good." Andrew said, "Well, then, let's repair the Forge!" Robin said, "Yeah! Where do we get Endrosium?" Stevie said, "You don't. Unless you feel like killing a bunch of blazes, endermen, and a giant dragon." Andrew said, "Kill what, to kill a what?!" Stevie said, "If you take a blaze rod, turn it into blaze powder, and combine it with an ender pearl, you get an eye of ender. Those are used to power the ender portal, where it takes you to a dimension known as The End. Residing there is a giant black and purple dragon, called the ender dragon." Stevie turned to Andrew. "Are you following me, kid?" Andrew said, "Yeah, yeah, I follow. Giant enderman dragon behind a portal." Stevie said, "Endrosium is not only an extremely energetic and durable power source, it feeds the enderdragon while it's in it's embryonic stage in the egg." Robin said, "Like an egg yolk!" Stevie said, "EXACTLY like an egg yolk! The only way to obtain the egg containing the Endrosium is to kill the enderdragon. As an added bonus, if you kill the enderdragon, you kill all the endermen, because since the enderdragon was the first creature to transmit the Ender Virus, it has a direct link to all of-" He stopped. Andrew said, "What is it?" Stevie slowly said, "That's it! I know how we can save Horatio!"


	15. Chapter 14: Saving Horatio

Robin was the first to say, "Well?! How?!" Stevie said, "Horatio's mind isn't gone forever until the end of the final stage. If we can defeat the enderdragon by then, hopefully the enderman inside him will be exterminated. We shouldn't hope for any physical reversion, but hopefully when the enderman half is extinguished, his consciousness will take over." Robin said, "So, where's the portal?" Stevie said, "Right this way." He led them through a door, on the opposite side of the room from which they had come in. Suddenly, they heard, "So you're the JavaScripter?" The voice was deep and distorted. They tuned around, and saw Horatio in the doorway. One of his arms was now jet black, and his eye color was purple. Horatio looked weary. Robin ran up to Horatio, and said, "Horatio! You need to lay down. You need rest." Horatio said, "No. If I'm becoming one of them, I need to do the most I can while I'm me." He walked into the room, using a cane to support himself. He said, "Where's the portal?"

Stevie, Robin, Andrew, and Horatio walked into the portal room. It was a staircase leading to a flat portal structure hovering above a pool of lava. The portal had a 3x3 hole in the middle, with 12 blocks making it up. Embedded in 4 of the blocks, there were odd objects that looked like eyes. Stevie said, "Those objects you see in the portal are eyes of ender. They power the portal when there's enough of them. You're going to need to collect 4 blaze rods, which you can turn into 8 blaze powder, and you'll need 8 ender pearls." Horatio smiled, shaking his head. He chuckled. Stevie said, "What's so funny?" Horatio said, "It's just that, we've seen so many thing we thought were myths these past few days, now The End portal doesn't surprise me!" Stevie smiled. He said, "Let's get to work."

* * *

Herobrine sat on his throne, in the middle of a large castle that his team and the blazes had built. It was in the middle of a desert. Herald walked up to Herobrine. He said, "Sir. We have located the ones they call Robin and Horatio." Herobrine smiled. He said, "Finally! Now I can get them out of my way. You, the rest of the council, and the captain will lead the troops to their location." His expression grew dark as he leaned in towards Herald. He slowly said, "I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourselves. Pray you don't disappoint me."

* * *

Robin and Horatio looked up at the large castle in the middle of the desert. Robin said, "Remember, we only need four. Then we're out of there." Horatio said, "I may get more, just for fun." Robin said, "Horatio, I'm serious. I don't want you working yourself harder than you should." Horatio sighed and said, "Fine." They got out their bows, and made their way towards the castle. They didn't sneak, though. They wanted to get noticed. Then, Herobrine's team teleported in front of them. Herald said, "Drop your weapons." Herald couldn't quite see Horatio's condition in the darkness of the night. Horatio jumped out, and let out an enderman scream. Herald jumped back. Horatio laughed. He said, "Just like I thought. Coward." Robin noticed that Horatio had become substantially more aggressive. Herald said, "What happened to _you_?" Robin said, "Enough talk." She strung four arrows, and aimed them at Herobrine's team. Herald shouted, "Troops! Attack!" Hundreds of blazes came out of the castle, and surrounded Horatio and Robin. They got back to back. Robin shot four arrows, and hit four blazes, making them fade into nothing, but only two of them dropped blaze rods. Robin collected them, and she looked at Horatio, who was shooting arrows, but failing miserably. He shouted, "Enough of this!" He took the bow, snapped it in two, and threw the pieces behind him. He concentrated, then disappeared. He reappeared behind a blaze, and used his black arm to grab the blaze, and disappeared with it. He reappeared at a lake, and threw the blaze in the water, setting it out. He grabbed it's Blaze rod, and teleported to another blaze, and did the same thing. He did this several more times, then he teleported to Robin, grabbed her hand, and teleported away.

* * *

"_WHAT_ HAPPENED?!" Herobrine shouted. Herald said, "Horatio and Robin were more formidable than expected." Herobrine said, "I gave you a simple job! Get rid of a couple of kids! You had a platoon of BLAZES, for crying out loud!" Herald said, "Sir, Horatio...he..." Herobrine said, "Oh, what?! He _BORED _you into submission?! You're all useless! Dead weight!" He grabbed a switch. "Dead meat!" He flipped the switch, and the council and the captain fell through a hole in the floor. Herobrine looked down in the hole. All he saw was Herald's staff sinking in the lava below.

* * *

Andrew walked through the forest next to Stevie, who was holding one sword in each hand. Andrew said, "Hey, Stevie. I have a question." Stevie said, "Yeah?" Andrew said, "Well, if you wrote the JavaScrolls to lead people to your device _after _the incident, how did two of them get to Notchton?" Stevie smiled. He said, "Well, I got the teleportation feature on the Forge up and running again, but only barely. It could only teleport things that were one block high. I started writing the JavaScrolls, and teleported the first two off-continent in chests." Andrew said, "Ah, now I ge-" A twig snapped. Andrew snapped around, holding up a sword. There was a rustling in the bushes, and out of the forest came...a cow. "Wow." Andrew said. "That felt a little Deja Vu-ish." They kept walking, then suddenly, Stevie whispered, "Hit the dirt!" Andrew jumped to the ground, alongside Stevie. Stevie pointed straight ahead, at a group of endermen walking around. Stevie said, "Alright, you read for this?" Andrew nodded. He said, "I'm ready." In reality, he was terrified. Stevie said, "3...2...1..." Him and Andrew jumped up, and ran at the endermen. They turned around, and saw Stevie and Andrew. The endermen ran at them. Stevie jumped, his swords outstretched, and ran two endermen through at once. He shouted, "Two of eight!" Andrew got another enderman, and shouted, "Three of eight!" Then, three endermen surrounded Andrew. Stevie jumped in, threw a sword at an enderman, then slashed two more with one swing of his other sword. All that was left were three ender pearls. He picked them up, and said, "Six of eight." Andrew threw a sword at another enderman, and said, "Seven of eight." Stevie said, "Alright, where's our last one?" They heard a poof from behind them. They turned around, swords drawn, but saw Horatio lying face-down on the ground, with Robin holding his hand. Horatio mumbled, while panting, "I hate teleporting!" He held up two golden sticks. He said, "Got your blaze rods." Robin held up the other two. He let go of Robin's hand, and pushed himself up. He dusted himself off. His hair was now jet black. Andrew said, "We're missing an ender pearl. Anybody got one?" Stevie looked around, picked his sword up off the ground, and looked around. He said, "Everybody be quiet." He looked around, and he heard a twig snap. He hurled his sword into the forest, and an enderman fell out of the darkness. It faded, replaced by an ender pearl. Stevie said, "Alright, give me the blaze rods." Horatio and Robin gave Stevie the blaze rods. Stevie took the ender pearls from Andrew, and laid them out on an exposed patch of rock, side by side. He gently laid the blaze rods on the ground...and stomped on them. He stomped them until they were reduced to a glowing yellow powder. Then, he took the powder into his hands, and sprinkled it on the ender pearls. They began to glow, then turn green around the middle, and develop a black slit in the middle. They became eyes of ender. Andrew picked up the eyes, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen...we're going to the End!"


	16. Chapter 15: To The End

Back in the stronghold, in the portal room, Andrew and Stevie were walking towards the portal room. Stevie set the eyes of ender on a table, and said, "Alright. Now, to defeat the enderdragon, you're going to need some serious firepower." Stevie opened a chest, and pulled out a quiver full of arrows. He gave it to Robin, and said, "Robin, these are my last few elemental arrows. Use them wisely." He handed Andrew a bright blue bow. He said, "This is a homing bow. It's guaranteed to lock on to the thing you're aiming at." He gave them both diamond swords, and said, "And of course, if the dragon gets too close for comfort, use these." Horatio said, "But what about me?" Stevie said to Horatio, "You and I will be staying behind. Once that enderdragon goes down, so will half of your mind. You're going to need someone to stabilize your condition." Horatio said, "Fine." Stevie noticed that Horatio's other arm was beginning to go black. Stevie said, "That, and you're almost at the end of the second stage of transformation. We don't need you attacking anybody while they're fighting the enderdragon." Horatio said, "Alright, alright, I'll stay." Stevie said to Andrew and Robin, "Let's go fire up the portal."

* * *

Herobrine sat on his throne, obviously frustrated. Spardrid hovered up to him. He said, "Herobrine. We have not yet located the children, nor their accomplice." Herobrine said, "We need a new base of operations. One with more resources than this place. A place with enough resources to feed thousands of-" He stopped. He got up. He said, "Tell your troops to regroup." When Spardrid had left, Herobrine concentrated with all his might, and just before passing out from sheer exhaustion, a small wisp of some came from his hand. It turned black, spun in a vortex, and materialized into a small hologram of a black dragon with glowing purple eyes. The ender dragon. The dragon looked at Herobrine, and said in a deep, distorted, snarly voice, "Yes, my master?" Herobrine said, "Change in plans. Your army and mine are merging. We're laying siege to Notchton."

* * *

Back in Notchton, the city was in turmoil. They had no idea where the grand council had gone. The guards were scattered. Unorganized. The Trekkers had no orders. The city was on the verge of another great starve. Suddenly, the city heard a trumpet. Followed by another. And another. And another, until there were trumpeting sounds coming from all sides of Notchton's walls. The warning trumpets. Something was very wrong. People began running to their houses. One man stopped, hearing a commotion from the outside of the wall. Then the wall exploded inwards. Through the hole walked a man with glowing white eyes, followed by thousands of flying fire creatures, and hundreds of endermen. He ran to his house. He turned to his army. He said, "Make them fear you, but do not kill anybody! I want something to rule over!" Herobrine walked towards the castle, grinning darkly. Then, he walked into the castle. Thirty Notchton guards held their bows up. One of them shouted, "Freeze!" Herobrine threw a shockwave, sending the guards flying into a wall. He turned the corner, and walked to the balcony in front of the castle. Spardrid flew up to Herobrine, and Herobrine told him, "Gather the people here." Spardrid said something to a blaze next to him, and that blaze left with the message. Herobrine said something to an enderman in his language, and that enderman teleported away with the message.

When all of the people had finally gathered, Herobrine said in a loud voice, "People of Notchton, there is no need to be afraid. Your grand council, sadly, is no more. You have been in chaos. Disorder. Well, I have come to take their place.

"Of course, there will be some changes. Maybe you'll like them, maybe not, but that is not your choice to make. Your city is now under my dominion. You do what I say. There will be peace, not in freedom, but in order. This city must become one! How, you ask?" He paused. Then he slowly said, "By doing what _I _say."

* * *

Stevie and Horatio walked up the steps to the portal, and began placing the eyes of ender in the segments of the portal. just as they were about to place the last one, Horatio paused. He handed the eye to Andrew. Horatio said, "I think _you _should get the honors." Andrew slowly took the eye of ender, lifted it above the segment, and placed it in the indentation. The portal began to glow purple, and smoke swirled inside of it, and then there was a huge gust of wind. when the smoke cleared, they looked in the portal. It was dark, inky black, speckled with white, star-like patterns. Robin looked at Andrew, and said, "You ready?" Andrew said, "Ready as I'll ever be." They braced themselves, then they jumped into the portal. When Robin jumped in, it felt like she was being taken apart, atom by atom. It didn't hurt, though. It was a weird feeling. She felt it, but at the same time, she didn't. Then, she was thrust forward, sent hurling through a vortex, swirling with black, purple, and white. Then, she landed on hard ground. She slowly got up, dusted herself off, and looked at the ground. The ground was made of a yellowish white cobblestone. Then she looked up. Surrounding her were seven endermen.


	17. Chapter 16: Battle of The End

Robin just stood there, terrified. Suddenly, Andrew landed next to her, and he got up, saying, "Ow! I see where Horatio's coming from when he says he hates teleporti-" he looked around, and saw the endermen. He said, "Ohhhh." One of the endermen screamed, and the all ran at Andrew and Robin. Then, they stopped. There was a huge THUD from behind them. Andrew and Robin slowly turned around. They saw a huge, black dragon, with glowing purple eyes. The enderdragon. The enderdragon looked down at Andrew and Robin. Then, it laughed. Then, it said in a deep, distorted, snarly voice, "So, _these_ are the ones sent to stop us?! What humor!" Then, it shouted to the endermen in a foreign language. Roughly translated, it meant, "They threaten us? No! You all join others? Can!" The enderman bowed, and teleported away. The enderdragon leaned in towards Andrew, it's hot breath lapping Andrew's face. It said, "Do you truly think yourself capable of stopping us?! Master Herobrine will not be defeated!" Robin strung an explosive arrow, and Andrew strung an arrow in his homing bow. Andrew said, "Prove it, sunshine!" They shot their arrows.

* * *

Horatio looked up from what he was doing. He said, "They have engaged the enderdragon." Stevie looked up from his workbench. "What?" He said. Horatio said, "Look, I don't know how, but I know that they've-" Horatio clutched his head, and toppled over. Stevie ran up to him, and tried to help him up. He said, "Horatio! Are you alright?!" Horatio shot up, and sent Stevie flying into the wall. Horatio got up. He was taller, and his face was black. He said, "Get...away!" He rushed at Stevie. Stevie moved to one side, and Horatio hit the wall. He turned towards Stevie. Stevie took out his sword, and as Horatio ran at him, Stevie said, "Sorry about this!" Stevie jumped, and hit Horatio's head with the hilt of his sword. Horatio fell to the ground, unconscious. Stevie took out a Golden Apple, and put it in Horatio's mouth. Horatio woke up. He said in an even more distorted voice, "Stevie? What..happened?" Stevie said, "You had an episode. You attacked me." Horatio said, "Something's wrong. Can't...think straight." Stevie said, "The virus is accelerating. Soon, these Golden Apples won't help anymore." Stevie thought, _Guys, you've gotta hurry!_

* * *

The enderdragon flew away, obviously in pain. Andrew said, "Is it really that easy?" The enderdragon flew next to an odd looking crystal, suspended on an obsidian pillar. The crystal released some kind of energy towards the dragon, and it turned around, the scorch marks healed. Andrew said, "Come ON!" The enderdragon swooped in at Andrew and Robin, and they ducked in different directions. Andrew said, "Robin! We need to take out the crystals first! Can you hit themthem from here?" Robin said "When can't I?" Andrew looked around, and saw that there were eight pillars. He said, "I'll distract the dragon!" Robin ran to one of the pillars. Andrew turned to face the dragon, and said, "Hey! Yo mama was a newt!" The dragon, enraged, flew in at Andrew.

Robin aimed one of her explosive arrows at one of the crystals. Then, she thought she'd better see if a normal one would work first. She strung an arrow, aimed, and fired. It exploded on impact, sending crystal shards scattering everywhere. The enderdragon took notice. It flew in at Robin, who strung an explosive arrow and fired it at the enderdragon. It flew away again, and flew towards another crystal, but when it got there, Andrew shot an arrow from his homing bow, and blew up the crystal, sending the dragon flying backwards. It righted itself in the air, and landed on the ground with a thud that shook the ground. It turned to Robin and Andrew, and shouted, "ENOUGH!" It opened it's mouth, and it breathed purple fire at Robin and Andrew. When Andrew dodged, he noticed that when the fire hit the ground, it hit the ground with a splat. Andrew's eyes widened. He shouted, "Robin! Stay clear of the fire! It's the virus!" Robin said, "Oh, ok! I was just gonna jump right in!" Andrew took out his sword, and threw it at the dragon, hitting it in it's arm. The dragon roared, and shook the sword out. Andrew picked up the sword. A drop of purple liquid dripped off. The dragon flew away, towards another crystal. Robin raced the dragon to it, and when it got to the crystal, she threw her sword at the crystal, and blew it up. The dragon, enraged, flew at Robin. Robin rolled across the ground as the dragon stomped where she had been. She strung the last lightning arrow, and fired it at the dragon. Lightning hit the dragon, and it roared, and collapsed to the ground. Andrew walked up to the enderdragon, and lifted his sword. Then, the dragon said something in the enderman language. Suddenly, they heard something from behind them. Behind them were hundreds of endermen.

* * *

Horatio clutched his head, and shouted as he sat on the bed. Stevie backed away, and Horatio fell over. Horatio then slowly got up. He said, "Master...summons...I." He teleported away. When he reappeared, he stood in front of Andrew and Robin. His eyes were now entirely purple, there were particles around him, and he was skinnier. Robin gasped. The enderdragon stood up, and limped over to a low lying crystal. He regenerated, and flew above the army of endermen. He shouted, "You've lost, underlings! I've won!"


	18. Chapter 17: The Universe

The enderdragon laughed. Andrew and Robin ran. Horatio teleported in front of them. Robin said, "Horatio! Don't do this!" Horatio's eyes lightened for a moment, but then it darkened again, and he advanced toward them. Andrew strung an arrow. Andrew said, "Horatio! Don't make me do this!" Horatio kept advancing, and Andrew shouted, "Freeze!" Horatio kept advancing. Robin suddenly had an idea. "Freeze." She said. She took out her last ice arrow. She aimed it at the laughing enderdragon. She said, "Hey endy! Eat this!" She shot the arrow, thinking, _Archery skills, don't fail me now!_ The arrow flew through the air, into the enderdragon's opened mouth, and down it's throat. Before the dragon could realize what had happened, he began to shiver. He looked at his hand. It began to freeze. He roared as he lost all movement, and his wings froze. Then, as he fell, the rest of him froze, and he shattered on impact, creating a massive burst of light, sending a barrage of ice blocks flying in all directions. The endermen stared. Then, all of them fell over, faded, and left a slew of ender pearls. Horatio clutched his head, and let out an enderman scream. There was something odd about his scream though. As he screamed, his voice returned to normal! Then, he fell over. Andrew and Robin ran over to him. As they looked at him, he began to transform back into his original shape. He grew fatter, until he was his normal width, and his arms and legs shortened. When the transformation was complete, Horatio looked completely normal, with one exception. His hair was jet black. Andrew felt Horatio's pulse. Andrew said, "I'm not getting anything!" Andrew pumped Horatio's chest. Nothing. Andrew and Robin just stared. Robin started to cry. A tear rolled down Andrew's cheek. Then, they heard something. Almost like something landing behind them. They looked behind them, and there stood Stevie. Stevie ran up to them. He said, "What happened? Did you win?" Andrew said, "Yes..." He looked at Horatio. "But at a price." Stevie was shocked. Then, he said, "How long has he been like this?" Andrew said, "About a minute." Stevie's expression grew more serious. He said, "Then we can still save him." He pulled out a golden apple. He put it in Horatio's mouth. They waited. Then, a particle flew by Horatio's head. Then another. Then another. Then another, and another, and then a few more. Horatio's eyes opened. His eye color was bright purple. He slowly stood up, rubbed his head, and looked at everyone. He smiled. He said, "You did it, didn't you?" Robin ran up to him, and embraced him for a straight minute. Andrew walked up to Horatio, and held out his hand. Horatio took it, and Andrew pulled him in, and hugged him. Horatio said, "Alright, let's get that egg!"

* * *

"What's happening?!" Herobrine shouted. All of the endermen had just fallen over and died. His army was split in half! He tried talking to the enderdragon. No response. He shouted, "Enderdragon? Enderdragon! Respond immediately!" Nothing. He balled up his fists. He turned to Spardrid, and said, "Find those kids, and bring them to me! At once!" Spardrid said, "Shall I annihilate them?" Herobrine said, "By absolutely no means!" Herobrine turned, and said as he walked away, "I want the pleasure of doing so!"

* * *

Andrew, Robin, Horatio, and Stevie walked to where the dragon had landed. In it's place was a portal structure made of bedrock. In the center of the hole in the structure, there was a pillar extending above the portal, and on the pillar was a large egg, made of obsidian. The enderdragon's egg! Andrew reached out to try and catch it, but as soon as he touched it, it disappeared. It reappeared behind them. Stevie tried to grab it, but when he touched it, it teleported away from them again. Horatio said, "Hmmm...let me try something." He limped over to where the egg was, his limp slowly vanishing. He reached out, and when he grabbed it, nothing happened. He lifted it up. He said, "Since I'm part enderman, I guess this thing doesn't see me as a threat!" Andrew smiled. He said, "Let's get back to the Forge!" He, Stevie, Horatio, and Robin stood along the edges of the portal. They all jumped in. As Andrew zoomed through the ethereal blackness, he saw something odd. Words! Words, scrolling before his eyes, as though they were words on a screen! It is not entirely clear who said these words, only that there seems to be two creatures speaking. We do not know what they meant. All I can do is give you the facts of the matter, to form your own conclusions. The words said:

* * *

**I see the player you mean.**

Andrew?

**Yes. Take care. It has reached a higher level now. It can read our thoughts.**

That doesn't matter. It thinks we are part of the game.

**I like this player. It played well. It did not give up.**

It is reading our thoughts as though they were words on a screen.

**That is how it chooses to imagine many things, when it is deep in the dream of a game.**

Words make a wonderful interface. Very flexible. And less terrifying than staring at the reality behind the screen.

**They used to hear voices. Before players could read. Back in the days when those who did not play called the players witches, and warlocks. And players dreamed they flew through the air, on sticks powered by demons.**

What did this player dream?

**This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter.**

Hah, the original interface. A million years old, and it still works. But what true structure did this player create, in the reality behind the screen?

**It worked, with a million others, to sculpt a true world in a fold of the _[scrambled]_, and created a _[scrambled]_ for _[scrambled]_, in the_[scrambled]_.**

It cannot read that thought.

**No. It has not yet achieved the highest level. That, it must achieve in the long dream of life, not the short dream of a game.**

Does it know that we love it? That the universe is kind?

**Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the universe, yes.**

But there are times it is sad, in the long dream. It creates worlds that have no summer, and it shivers under a black sun, and it takes its sad creation for reality.

**To cure it of sorrow would destroy it. The sorrow is part of its own private task. We cannot interfere.**

Sometimes when they are deep in dreams, I want to tell them, they are building true worlds in reality. Sometimes I want to tell them of their importance to the universe. Sometimes, when they have not made a true connection in a while, I want to help them to speak the word they fear.

**It reads our thoughts.**

Sometimes I do not care. Sometimes I wish to tell them, this world you take for truth is merely _[scrambled]_ and _[scrambled]_, I wish to tell them that they are _[scrambled]_ in the _[scrambled]_. They see so little of reality, in their long dream.

**And yet they play the game.**

But it would be so easy to tell them...

**Too strong for this dream. To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.**

I will not tell the player how to live.

**The player is growing restless.**

I will tell the player a story.

**But not the truth.**

No. A story that contains the truth safely, in a cage of words. Not the naked truth that can burn over any distance.

**Give it a body, again.**

Yes. Player...

**Use its name.**

Andrew. Player of games.

**Good.**

Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things.

**Who are we? Once we were called the spirit of the mountain. Father sun, mother moon. Ancestral spirits, animal spirits. Jinn. Ghosts. The green man. Then gods, demons. Angels. Poltergeists. Aliens, extraterrestrials. Leptons, quarks. The words change. We do not change.**

We are the universe. We are everything you think isn't you. You are looking at us now, through your skin and your eyes. And why does the universe touch your skin, and throw light on you? To see you, player. To know you. And to be known. I shall tell you a story.

**Once upon a time, there was a player.**

The player was you, Andrew.

**Sometimes it thought itself human, on the thin crust of a spinning globe of molten rock. The ball of molten rock circled a ball of blazing gas that was three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than it. They were so far apart that light took eight minutes to cross the gap. The light was information from a star, and it could burn your skin from a hundred and fifty million kilometres away.**

Sometimes the player dreamed it was a miner, on the surface of a world that was flat, and infinite. The sun was a square of white. The days were short; there was much to do; and death was a temporary inconvenience.

**Sometimes the player dreamed it was lost in a story.**

Sometimes the player dreamed it was other things, in other places. Sometimes these dreams were disturbing. Sometimes very beautiful indeed. Sometimes the player woke from one dream into another, then woke from that into a third.

**Sometimes the player dreamed it watched words on a screen.**

Let's go back.

**The atoms of the player were scattered in the grass, in the rivers, in the air, in the ground. A woman gathered the atoms; she drank and ate and inhaled; and the woman assembled the player, in her body.**

And the player awoke, from the warm, dark world of its mother's body, into the long dream.

**And the player was a new story, never told before, written in letters of DNA. And the player was a new program, never run before, generated by a sourcecode a billion years old. And the player was a new human, never alive before, made from nothing but milk and love.**

You are the player. The story. The program. The human. Made from nothing but milk and love.

**Let's go further back.**

The seven billion billion billion atoms of the player's body were created, long before this game. So the player, too, is information. And the player moves through a story, which is a forest of information planted by a man called Julian, on a flat, infinite world created by a man called Markus, that exists inside a small, private world created by the player, who inhabits a universe created by...

**Shush. Sometimes the player created a small, private world that was soft and warm and simple. Sometimes hard, and cold, and complicated. Sometimes it built a model of the universe in its head; flecks of energy, moving through vast empty spaces. Sometimes it called those flecks "electrons" and "protons".**

Sometimes it called them "planets" and "stars".

**Sometimes it believed it was in a universe that was made of energy that was made of offs and ons; zeros and ones; lines of code. Sometimes it believed it was playing a game. Sometimes it believed it was reading words on a screen.**

You are the player, reading words...

**Shush... Sometimes the player read lines of code on a screen. Decoded them into words; decoded words into meaning; decoded meaning into feelings, emotions, theories, ideas, and the player started to breathe faster and deeper and realised it was alive, it was alive, those thousand deaths had not been real, the player was alive**

You. You. You are alive.

**and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the sunlight that came through the shuffling leaves of the summer trees**

and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the light that fell from the crisp night sky of winter, where a fleck of light in the corner of the player's eye might be a star a million times as massive as the sun, boiling its planets to plasma in order to be visible for a moment to the player, walking home at the far side of the universe, suddenly smelling food, almost at the familiar door, about to dream again

**and sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the zeros and ones, through the electricity of the world, through the scrolling words on a screen at the end of a dream**

and the universe said I love you

**and the universe said you have played the game well**

and the universe said everything you need is within you

**and the universe said you are stronger than you know**

and the universe said you are the daylight

**and the universe said you are the night**

and the universe said the darkness you fight is within you

**and the universe said the light you seek is within you**

and the universe said you are not alone

**and the universe said you are not separate from every other thing**

and the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code

**and the universe said I love you because you are love.**

And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love.

**You are the player.**

Wake up.

* * *

Andrew hit the hard soil with a thud. He thought about what he had just seen. He looked around. He saw everybody else laying next to him, getting up. He looked up. He saw stone. Stone, extending up like a wall. A wall. They were back at Notchton! Andrew shot up, followed by the others. It was night, and monsters were prowling. Inside the city, they saw a dull glow emanating above the wall. They ran to the city. suddenly, they heard from behind them, "Running won't help you, but if you feel so inclined, then by all means!" They turned. Behind them stood Herobrine.


	19. Chapter 18: The Amphitheater

Andrew, Robin, Horatio, and Stevie sat in their cells in Notchton, waiting to be executed. Horatio sat on the ground, his legs crossed, eyes closed, deep in thought. Andrew said to Horatio, "Look, buddy, we're glad you're back, but do think you could at least _act _a bit concerned that we're about to die in an amphitheater?" Horatio said, "I can't. I'm concentrating." Andrew said to Stevie, "Why do you think Herobrine's dragging this out? why not just kill us on the spot?" Stevie said, "He wants the people to see this. He needs to make an example of us." Robin said, "Horatio? If this is it, then I just wanted you to know...I-" Andrew said, "No. This isn't it. We'll think of something. If we can take down a dragon, then we can take down some monsters." Then, four blazes came to their cells. One of them said, "Come, prisoners! Your time's up!"

As they were lead down the hallway of the underground dungeon, the floor started to slope upwards. Soon, they reached the surface, where they were lead through the streets. Soon, they got to a huge building, made of obsidian. An amphitheater. They were lead through another hallway running through it, and to a large gate, leading into the arena. Their handcuffs were removed. The gate opened, and they were pushed in, the gate closing behind them. They looked around. The ground was made of a dark brown sand, but it was so thick that it made everyone move slower. Thousands of people sat in the bleachers, cheering. The ones that were close enough to see in detail obviously didn't want to cheer. They looked like they were forced to. They looked up to a large balcony, where they saw Herobrine walk up and sit on a throne. Herobrine said, "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the New Order Amphitheater! For our first bout of entertainment, we have some people who have been convicted of treason to the throne! Please, tell them what you think of them!" The crowd was silent for a moment, and the blazes began to move forward, and then the crowd started booing. Herobrine smiled, then said, "Aaaaand in _this _corner, we have two contenders who are from the Nether itself! Ladies and gentlemen!" The gate on the other side of the arena opened, and out flew two gigantic white creatures, giant squares with tentacles coming out of the bottoms, their eyes closed. Herobrine said, "The ghasts!" The crowd cheered. Robin said, "Are those...giant _ghosts?!_" Stevie said, "No, no, they're not ghosts."

* * *

**MINECRAFT FACT FILE:**

**Ghasts are giant flying creatures from the Nether, called Ghasts because of their odd resemblance to ghosts. Their flight is powered by specialized bacteria in their gut that produces netherygen, an extremely light and volatile gas, where it is stored to turn them into essentially a giant balloon. Their netherygen can also be ignited and trapped into a ball of membrane, and fired out of the Ghast's mouth. The Ghast's eyes are usually closed to protect them. They only open their eyes when they need to aim their fireballs. The way they navigate, sensing electricity emanating from objects, is not ideal for aiming attacks. Their call resembles a screaming baby, and it's volume does not diminish with distance, making locating one quite difficult. Ghasts are essentially made only of thin membrane, which would make them easily killed if they couldn't fly.**

* * *

The Ghasts saw Andrew, Stevie, Robin and Horatio. They let out their call, and flew at them. Everyone ducked out of the way. Andrew, struggling to get up because of the thick sand, decided that since he was unarmed, he had better find something to defend himself with. He looked around, and saw one of the light posts around the arena. He pulled one out of the ground. One of the Ghasts shot a fireball at him. Andrew couldn't duck that quickly. The sand was too thick. He randomly swung his pole. Interestingly, the fireball bounced off of the pole, and flew at one of the opposite walls. The Ghast fired again. This time, he aimed the fireball at the Ghast. The fireball hit the Ghast, setting it one fire, causing the creature to fall to the ground, and fade into nothing, leaving a tear shaped pearl. Andrew put it in his pocket, and saw everyone else running from the remaining Ghast. Andrew threw a rock at the Ghast, making it turn it's attention to Andrew. It's red eyes opened, and the Ghast shot a fireball at Andrew. Andrew hit the fireball, but missed the Ghast. Andrew shouted to Horatio, who had been watching everything, "Heads up!" Quickly, Horatio pulled a pole out of the ground, and whacked the fireball at the Ghast. The creature burst into flames, and faded, leaving another tear shaped pearl. They looked up at Herobrine. Andrew shouted, "That's it?" Herobrine angrily said, "No, it's not! Guards! Release..." Herobrine grinned darkly. He said, "The Wither!" The gate at the other end of the Arena opened. In the darkness, they saw a pair of glowing white eyes. Then, another pair, on it's left. Then another on it's right. The pairs of eyes lifted into the air, and flew closer. Out of the darkness came a three headed, dark grey, flying monster. The Wither.

* * *

**MINECRAFT FACT FILE:**

**The Wither is a flying monster with three heads. Not much is known about it. It does not spawn naturally. All that is known is that it can fire explosive projectiles. These projectiles cannot be deflected.**

* * *

Andrew, Robin, and Stevie stood there, mouths agape. Horatio quickly sat on the ground, and concentrated. The wither saw them, and fired an explosive at them. Stevie grabbed Horatio, and they jumped out of the way. Horatio got up. He closed his eyes, and said, "Everybody lock hands!" Robin grabbed Horatio's hand, Stevie grabbed Robin's hand, and Andrew grabbed Stevie's. Horatio concntrated as hard as he could. He set his mind to the Stronghold. He opened his eyes. They glowed purple. Then, him and everyone else disappeared. The wither looked confused. Herobrine shouted, "WHAT?!"

* * *

In the Stronghold's Forge room, everyone reappeared. Everyone was fine, except Horatio, who nearly fell over. He said, "Water! Food!" He ran to a chest, pulled out a water bucket and a steak. He drank the water bucket in one gulp, and scarfed down the steak. He sighed in relief. Robin said, "You can still teleport!" Horatio said, "Yeah, but it takes quite a bit outta my system. I'm just not built for it anymore." He stopped. He facepalmed, and said, "The egg! I forgot the egg!" He grabbed a few more buckets of water, and several more steaks, and said, "I'll be right back." His eyes glowed purple, and he teleported.

* * *

Herobrine walked towards an iron door. His pet wither was back in his cell. Herobrine was trying to figure out how they had just disappeared. He said to himself, "What could have happened?!" As Herobrine walked into the room, he said, "How did they just disappear?!" Herobrine looked up. Next to the enderdragon egg the room was meant to contain, he saw Horatio, porking down a steak. Horatio looked at Herobrine, who just stood there, not processing what was going on. Horatio said, "Like this." Horatio grabbed the egg, and his eyes glowed purple. Herobrine shouted, "No!" Herobrine jumped at Horatio, and touched him as Horatio teleported. Horatio landed back in the Stronghold. After wolfing down some more water and steak, he said, "I got the egg!" everyone just looked in horror. Horatio said, "What?" behind Horatio stood Herobrine, grinning.


	20. Chapter 19: Discovered

Herobrine threw a shockwave, sending everyone flying against the wall. Herobrine said, "You're more persistent than Blazes, I'll give you that! Now, the endrosium! Immediately!" Andrew reached for the enderdragon egg, but Herobrine grabbed Andrew's arm. Andrew grinned. He nodded toward Horatio, who was clutching Andrew's leg, eyes glowing. Then, Herobrine found himself high above the forest, falling. As Andrew, Horatio, and Herobrine fell, Andrew said, "Horatio! Teleport!" Horatio looked exhausted. His eyes glowed purple, and they teleported. Horatio laid on the ground in the stronghold. Horatio crawled across the floor, going for the chest. Robin quickly got out some pork and a bucket of water. Horatio ate the porkchops, and drank the water, and laid on the ground. He said, "From now on, I never teleport without food and water, unless our lives are at stake. Ok?"

* * *

Herobrine got up off the ground. He was furious. He had to find the Forge. He concentrated with everything he had, falling to his knees to conserve energy, and suddenly, the wither appeared in front of him. Herobrine got up and slowly said, "I don't care if you have to blow up the entire continent! Find the stronghold!" The wither said with a screechy voice, "Yes, my liege!" And flew up, and fired his explosives at the ground, making a large hole. The wither did this over and over again, moving forward. He was drilling.

* * *

Stevie heard an explosion in the distance. He said, "Ok, we need to extract the Endrosium immediately." Stevie laid the egg on a table. Stevie said, "Horatio! Prepare the Forge! Andrew, bring me my diamond axe." Andrew grabbed a diamond axe out of a chest, and handed it to Stevie, who promptly used it to crack open the egg. The egg split in two, spilling purple goo everywhere, and Stevie grabbed the ball of endrosium out of the goop. Horatio opened a duct in the Forge, and Stevie quickly put the endrosium in the Forge. An explosion came from the library. Robin grabbed a bow, and Andrew grabbed a sword, and Robin said, "We'll take care of this." She walked out the door, followed by Andrew. In the library, a huge hole was in the ceiling. Slowly, ominously, the wither floated down through. It said, "Last time, you got away. Now, we finish this!" Andrew said, "You got that right." Andrew leaped at the Wither, but the wither shot an explosive at Andrew, sending him flying back. Herobrine jumped down the hole in the ceiling. Herobrine walked up to Andrew. He said, "Poor, misguided Andrew." Herobrine lifted Andrew in the air by his neck. Herobrine said, "Did you really think it would be that easy? If I could be defeated by simply picking me up and dropping me, then I would be long dead by now!" Herobrine squeezed. Andrew gasped for breath. Herobrine said, "Now, where is the endrosium?" Andrew was silent. Then, he grinned. Andrew said, "Get griefed." Herobrine's expression grew even angrier, and he squeezed even tighter. Robin saw what was happening, and Fired an arrow at Herobrine. Just as the arrow was about to hit his head, he caught it, without even looking. Herobrine said, "Maybe the enderdragon, miss, but not me." Robin said, "It's called a distraction, genius." Suddenly, Herobrine felt weaker. He dropped Andrew. The Forge. It was draining him!

In the Forge room, Stevie and Horatio watched with growing anticipation as the screen resumed it's data wipe. It said, BRYAN DATA WIPE: 92%. then, it increased to 93, then 94. 95...96...97...98...99...100! Herobrine kicked down the door. Then, he tried to throw a shockwave. It didn't work. He tried to teleport. Nothing. He was powerless. Then, he clutched his head, and fell to the ground. He groaned, and then he looked up at Stevie. His eye color was green again. As he got up, he said, "St-Stevie? What happened? Who are these kids?" Stevie said, "Bryan!" Stevie ran up to him and embraced him. Bryan said, "I feel like this should be an emotional moment, if I knew what was happening." Stevie said, "Brother, you have no idea." A deep voice from behind them said, "No, _YOU _are the ones with no idea!" They turned around. The Forge was gone. Then, the wall blew in, and in hovered the Wither. It said, "Prepare to perish, insects!"


	21. Chapter 20: The Wither

Back at the Castle in Notchton, Herobrine teleported into the lobby. Spardrid floated over to him. He said, "From your new, more powerful appearance, I assume that your plan worked?" Spardrid was right. Herobrine _did _look more powerful. He glowed a dull red, and his white eyes glowed brighter than ever. Herobrine said, "Yes, those fools fell for it hook, line and sinker!" When Stevie completed the data wipe on Bryan, Herobrine was only separated from Bryan. Apparently, though, there was still a little bit of Bryan left in him. Now, Herobrine was unconstrained, and free to do whatever he wanted without the pitfalls of a normal body. "And now I have..." Herobrine waved his hand, and the Forge teleported behind him. "This." Herobrine said. Spardrid said, "When will I get modded?" Herobrine waved his hand, and said, "Soon enough, soon enough. I need to do some things to..._ensure _we don't get any unwanted guests." Spardrid said, "But...isn't it impossible to defeat a wither?" Herobrine turned to Spardrid, and said, "Believe me, I've seen what these kids do. They don't just _do _the impossible, it's their _specialty_! I won't take chances!" Herobrine said, "But first, I have a communication to make." Herobrine typed some code into the Forge. When the transmission got through, Herobrine said, "Greetings, friend!" The voice on the other end said, "Who is this? Who are you?" Herobrine said, "My name is Herobrine. We haven't met. Yet."

* * *

Robin strung three arrows, and hit each of the three heads. The wither, although it obviously didn't enjoy it, just shook off the arrows. Robin said, "Andrew, it's not working!" Andrew threw his sword at the wither's chest. Nothing. Horatio teleported to the wither, grabbed it, and teleported away with it. The wither found itself outside the Stronghold again, Horatio landing on the ground, drifting from consciousness. Stevie, Bryan, Robin and Andrew climbed out of the hole the wither made when it invaded the stronghold, and Stevie ran up to Horatio to help. Robin and Andrew kept shooting their arrows at the wither. Bryan suddenly realized. He did this. This was his fault. He shouted, "Oh, Notch, what did I _do?!_" The wither seemed like it was weakening, but then it flew into the sky, gaining so much altitude that they couldn't get him, even with their arrows, giving the wither time to heal. Bryan said, said, "Guys! I know it's weakness! It's not particularly strong, it just has firepower and altitude!" He turned to Andrew, and said, "Kid! Find a way to pin it down! If it can't get away, it's fair game!" Andrew looked around, trying to find something to pin the wither down with. Then, an explosion sent Andrew and Robin flying backwards. The wither flew down and said, "You are no match for the wither!" It fired an explosive at Andrew and Robin. Bryan jumped at it, and took an explosive to the chest. He went flying backwards. Andrew and Robin got up, and ran over to Bryan, laying on the ground, smoking. Stevie ran up to him. Stevie said, "No, no, no, no, you're not dying yet!" Stevie reached into his pack. No Golden Apples. He lifted Bryan, and walked towards a pond to put him in, to help the burn. Andrew, Robin, and Horatio turned towards the wither. Andrew and Robin kept firing arrows, and kept getting nowhere. The wither fired an explosive, and they barely dodged it. Horatio thought. Then, he had an idea. He looked towards a mountain out in the desert, not far from Stevie's forest. Horatio said, "Keep him busy, guys! I have an idea!" Andrew said, "Oh, sorry, I was about to take a break!" Horatio smiled, then he ran to the mountain. Once he got there, he got out a crafting table, and some redstone. He grinned.

Stevie put Bryan in the pond, resting Bryan's head on the edge, to keep it from being submerged. Stevie cupped his hands, scooped some water, and threw it on Bryan's face. Bryan shot up. Bryan looked around. He said, "This is my fault." Stevie said, "No, it's not. It's Herobrine's fault. He did this, not you." Bryan said, "Yes, but if I-" He stopped. He said, "Herobrine's alive." Stevie said, "What?!" Bryan said, "It didn't wipe Herobrine, it separated him. I can still feel him. That's how the Forge must have disappeared!"

Horatio ran up to Andrew. He whispered something in his ear, and Andrew smiled. He turned to Robin, and said, "Robin, you stay here." Then, he turned to the wither and said, "Hey wither! Think you can catch this?" Andrew took off towards the mountain. The wither flew after him. Andrew ran into a cave in the sand mountain. The wither flew in after him. Andrew turned around. He stood on a lone piece of cobblestone in the floor. He said, "Um, Mr. Wither? Behind you." The wither looked behind him. Horatio was holding a switch. He flipped it. The cobblestone pulled out from under Andrew, and closed behind him as he fell. Then pistons in the ceiling pulled away the layer of sandstone suspending the sand. The entire mountain of sand fell on the wither, burying it. Andrew climbed out of a trap door, next to where Horatio was. They looked at the mountain. There was an indentation where the top, where that section of the mountain fell on the wither. Andrew turned to Horatio, and said, "Horatio, you mad genius!" Robin said, "That was amazing!" He hugged him, followed by Robin. Stevie, supporting Bryan, walked up, and said, "What did I miss?" Robin said, "Stevie, you should have seen it! Horatio made a contraption that made the mountain fall on the wither!" Horatio said, "Yeah, but Andrew's the one who took the real risk. He got the wither over here!" Robin said, "Why couldn't I help, exactly?" Horatio was silent. Horatio then said, "Well...I.." Andrew said, "He didn't exactly feel comfortable with letting the wither chase you into a confined space." Horatio said, "Well...yeah, what he said." Robin said, "I can handle myself, you kno-" Stevie interjected. He said, "This is all well and good, but we have a problem. Herobrine's alive. Somehow, the Forge separated Herobrine from Bryan. The only reason he's not Hero again is because he still retained a bit of Bryan's JavaScriptic makeup." After a few seconds of silence, Andrew said, "Is that where the Forge went? Herobrine has it?!" Stevie nodded. He then said, "Come with me. I have something to show you."

Back in the stronghold, Stevie and Bryan walked into the center of the library. Stevie and Bryan pulled two switches simultaneously. A hole opened up in the center of the library. Rising from the floor, pistons pushed up an odd little table, made of obsidian, with a book on top of it, and what looked like some kind of brewing stand. Stevie said, "These are my miniature JavaScript altering devices. They're still in their experimental stage, so I didn't know what would happen if I used them." He gestured to the small table. "This is my tool and armor enhancement and upgrade table." Bryan said, "We just call it the Enchanting Table. And over here..." Bryan gestured to the brewing stand, "Is the performance enchancer brewer. We just call it the Brewing Stand." Stevie said, "Let's get upgrades. I hope."


	22. Chapter 21: The Battle of Notchton

They were ready. Andrew, Robin, and Horatio stood, their new diamond armor and weapons gleaming brighter than anything naturally could. Andrew said, "Hey, this is nice!" Robin said, "Yeah! I feel like I could take on an army of blazes without flinching!" Horatio said, "Let's do this!" Horatio swung his sword. Bryan said, "Well, first we need a way to get to the mainland." Horatio thought and said, "Maybe I could teleport us there." Andrew said, "No way, man, it's too far!" Horatio said, "It's either that, or risk getting eaten by those killer squids." Robin said, "I'm not going to let you go through with it. You already nearly died once, it's not going to happen again!" Horatio sighed. He said, "Alright guys, let's get some boats ready."

When they had finished their boats, and had set them on the water, Andrew said, "Alright guys. This is it. Today we finish this." Stevie said, "I remember Notch telling us a saying they use in his realm. _Semper Fi_. It means, 'Always Faithful'." Stevie held out his hand. "_Semper Fi_." Bryan put his hand on Stevie's. Bryan said, "_Semper Fi._" Horatio put his hand on Bryan's. "_Semper Fi._" Robin put her hand on Horatio's. "_Semper Fi._" Andrew put his hand on Robin's. "_Semper Fi._" They all said in unison, "Always faithful." Horatio grinned, and said, "Which is why I'm gonna do _this!_" They disappeared in a purple cloud of particles.

* * *

Back outside Notchton's walls, Stevie, Bryan, Andrew, Robin, and Horatio reappeared. Horatio fell to his knees. He panted, took out some food, and ate. He said, "That..." he coughed. "That wasn't so bad! I wonder why." He stood up. Robin gave him an annoyed expression. Horatio said, "Hey, at least I'm fine." Robin rolled her eyes. Suddenly, a Blaze saw them from the wall, let out a long call, and about 20 Blazes flew towards them. They got out their weapons. Suddenly, seven men appeared around them! They were all in diamond armor, except for one, who was wearing what looked like gold, but something about it made it look more...majestic. The man in gold faced them. He had brown hair, and he wore sunglasses. He said, "Notch told us you could use some assistance!" His golden sword suddenly became electrified. He said to the other six men, "Alright Team! Let's take 'em down!" One of the men looked like a furry animal, one was also wearing sunglasses, and had a short beard, one was blue with orange cheeks and a white chin, one was wearing a headset, one had a red hoodie, and the one riding on a pig looked like a futuristic astronaut. The man in gold swung his sword, creating a yellow shockwave, sending blazes flying backwards. The blue man said to some blazes, "Hey, fire monsters! Guess what!" He prepared to leap, holding his sword ready. "I'm a Water/Ground type!" He ran one through, and smacked him into the one next to him. They both faded into Blaze rods. The man in the red hoodie, and the man with the headset made short work of another six blazes, while the furry animal guy pounced a blaze. The guy with the sunglasses and the short beard got his sunglasses knocked off, and his eyes were facing different directions. He got his sunglasses back, and kept fighting. The astronaut on the pig said, "Charge, Jeffrey!" The pig charged forward, and the astronaut held out his sword, slashing several blazes. when it was all over, all that was left were blaze rods. The man in gold turned to the astounded Andrew. He said, "Follow us." Sky ran towards a tree. He dug out a grass block, and pushed a button in the hole, and they fell into an underground hideout. When they had all gotten up, Sky said, "Ok. Everyone alright?" Andrew closed his gaping mouth, and said, "Yeah. We're fine." Horatio said, "That's some of the best golden armor and tools I've ever seen! Where'd you get them?" The man said, "Gold? No, no, no, this is butter. Maybe we should introduce ourselves. I'm Sky. We're Team Crafted." He gestured to the furry animal. He said, "The furry animal is The Smelly Bacca. I call him Fluffy. The astronaut is TrueMinecraftUniverse. The guy in the headset is Deadlox, the dude in the red hoodie is BajanCanadian, the fish-" The blue guy spoke up. "AMPHIBIAN!" Sky said, "Yeah, amphibian, is Husky Mudkipz, and the guy with the derpy eyes is Ssundee." Robin said, "What did you mean, _Notch_ told you we could use help? And why are your names so weird?" Sky said, "Well, we're not really from Minecraft."

Outside the realm of minecraft, a man sat at a computer sitting on a desk. The man was not made of blocks, oddly enough. On his computer, it showed minecraft, from Sky's perspective. The man spoke into his headset. "We're some of the first people to try out the inter-dimensional link. Notch asked us to come help you guys out."

Then Sky explained to Andrew what _exactly _he was doing. I don't think I need to put this explanation in dialogue, because it was extremely lengthy, but I'll still summarize it.:  
Notch originally intended minecraft to be a completely seperate, self aware universe in the computer. Then he realized, if people could also _access _that world somehow, the implications would be phenomenal. He quickly created the minecraft launcher, which would launch people's customized minecraft bodies into the world of minecraft, where their deaths would only be minor setbacks. Users could easily respawn, pick up their things where they left off, and go about their merry way. He was working on the feature that would allow them to make multiple worlds, alternate realities inside one dimension. There would still be endermen. There would still be an enderdragon. The users would simply view it as a game, though.

Andrew then said, "Well, we currently have an extremely powerful, evil overlord who's taken over our home, and we're going to take it back." Sky said, "Now we're talking. How can we help?" Andrew grinned. Sky said, "Follow me." He walked towards the staircase leading to the surface.

In the dead of night, Sky and the rest of Team Crafted walked in front of Andrew, Robin, Horatio, Stevie, and Bryan. Sky held up his hand, and made a snapping noise with his hand, which is odd, because he had no fingers. Suddenly, behind him, hundreds of golems made of butter came out of the ground. They all looked at Sky. Sky said, "Let's get your city back." Andrew said, "I know where we can get some more help."

* * *

The people of Notchton were starving. Most of their food had been used to feed the Blazes. Suddenly, they heard a rumble from outside the wall. Something burst through, sending rock flying in all directions. Hundreds of butter golems flooded through, throwing shockwaves at Blazes before they could report what was happening. When all the Blazes were nothing but Blaze rods, Andrew walked through. He walked to a piece of stone in the middle of the street. He said, "Don't worry! We're here to help!" One of the citizens said, "How can we be sure?" Andrew took off his helmet. Everyone recognized him. The horse racing champion. Andrew called out to the others, who walked through the hole in the wall. Andrew said, "Believe me, guys, we've been places. We found Stevie!" He gestured to Stevie. Everyone murmured in surprise. Andrew gestured to Bryan, saying, "We found out Stevie had a brother!" He gestured to Horatio, saying, "One of our friends almost turned into an enderman!" He said, "We found a device that alters reality, we met people from another universe, we found cows who have mushroom soup as milk, the list goes on and on." He then said, "But now we have something more important to do. Something more important than just _finding _something. Now, we fight. We don't fight for glory. For power. For the sake of conquest. Now, we have to fight for our home! Our freedom!" He raised his sword in the air. He shouted, "Today, we tell Herobrine that we won't fall victim to the spawns of the night, the end, or the nether! Today we tell Herobrine that if he pushes us, we push back! I'll be blunt with you. There's a chance that we won't win. There's a chance that Herobrine might come on top. But if we lose, what's to stop history from saying that we didn't go out quietly!" After a pause, Andrew said, "You know, there are times when I've wondered why we were made. Why we exist to begin with. After what I've been through, it's clear now. We were made to build! Simple as that! Who's Herobrine to tell you to build, say, a shrine to him? A new castle for him? Today, we tell him that _we _decide what we build! _We _control what happens to us!" Andrew paused. He shouted, "Herobrine thinks he can rule us? Today, we show him just how dangerous we _really _are! All who have the materials, make some armor! Make some weapons! We can make you stronger!" He held up a potion. He shouted, "Let's tell Herobrine that we are not slaves! We are Miners! We are Craftsmen! We are Builders, and we are _never _going to be slaves! Not now, not _ever!_" The crowd cheered. They went into their houses, and got out their iron, their diamond, even their stone, and crafted armor and weapons. They filled their packs with as much armor wand weaponry as they could carry, and went out of their houses, prepare for the battle. They gathered around Andrew and the gang, and They all threw splash potions in the air, endowing everyone with new, amazing abilities. Andrew walked to the front of them, turned towards the castle, held out his sword, and shouted, "To the castle!" All of Notchton let out a cry as loud as thunder, and ran to the castle.

* * *

Spardrid flew quickly down the halls, to Herobrine's office. He worried about what was going to happen once he delivered the message. Spardrid burst into Herobrine's office, and Herobrine said, "Yes, yes, what is it?" Spardrid, panting, said, "The kids! They've returned! They've brought users and new types of Golems with them! They've sparked a revolt among the people! They've stormed the castle!" Herobrine was silent, then, he raised his fist, and slammed it down on the table so hard that it broke in two. He shouted, "Can't your army take them down?!" Spardrid said, "S-sir, the people...they seem to be...more powerful! They're nearly immune to our fire!" Herobrine hurled the two table halves across the room. He stormed out the door, saying, "I'll take care of this myself!"

Herobrine walked into the room where he had put the Forge. He typed in some code. He said to the Blazes behind him, "Man the turrets at the staircase."

* * *

The crowd ran up the stairs, Andrew, Robin, Stevie, Horatio, and Bryan leading. Suddenly, they saw two blazes rise up out of the floor, sitting on large, black and blue turrets. They began to fire at the crowd. Some of them were blown through the wall. They would be fine. The potions made them nearly invincible. Andrew threw two swords, hitting both barrels in one of the turrets, causing it to explode. Robin shot two arrows at the other turret, hitting in exactly the same way, causing that one to explode also. The crowd advanced up the stairs, and reached the second floor. 20 blazes were waiting for them. Sky ran to the front, and threw a shockwave with his butter sword. The blazes faded into blaze rods, leaving the smell of melted butter in the air. The crowd rushed forward, and slammed against the large door leading to the other chamber. The door burst open, and Notchtonians flooded through, taking down blazes. Ahead of them, Andrew saw it. The door to Herobrine's office. He ran to the door, and kicked it down, but nobody was there. He looked to the left of the door. There was a staircase to the left, leading to the roof of the castle. Andrew turned to his team. He said, "Guys! Let's finish this!" Robin, Horatio, Stevie, and Bryan ran up the stairs alongside him. On the roof of the building, they saw Herobrine, standing next to the Forge. Andrew rushed at him, but was bounced back by a force field around Herobrine. Herobrine laughed, and said, "You just don't get it, do you?! I've won! You've lost!" He put his hand over the button. He said, "Now, behold!" He pushed the button. Suddenly, thousands of black and purple particles flew up into the air. They began to materialize, slowly, but the shapes could easily be seen. There were thousands of them. Herobrine was making an army of enderdragons.


	23. Chapter 22: The Final Battle

As the enderdragons slowly materialized, Herobrine said, "You can't touch me! But I can still do this!" He threw a shockwave. This time, it was so powerful that it blew them against the railings at the edges. Herobrine teleported to them. He said, "I mean to finish what I started! And nothing is able to stop me!" Suddenly, a voice said, "Enough!" It didn't come from any discernable direction, it just seemed to come from everywhere. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the castle. When the thunder subsided, why, there stood Notch himself! Everybody stared in awe. Notch looked at Herobrine, and said, "Herobrine, I command you to shut down the Forge immediately!" Herobrine, after regaining his composure, said, "Notch or not, _nobody _commands me!" Herobrine threw a shockwave at Notch. Notch stayed completely stationary. He laughed, then he clapped his hands, sending a shockwave flying towards Herobrine. Herobrine flew backwards, Notch flying to him, and punching him into the ground. Notch was about to deliver the final blow, when Herobrine flew out from under him, and kicked Notch, sending him flying.

Andrew looked to the sky. The enderdragons were almost done materializing. Then, Andrew realized. There was only one way to finish this. Andrew said to Horatio and Robin, "Horatio, Robin, I have a plan, but it'll be risky." Robin said, "Apparently, risky is our specialty."

Herobrine flew at Notch, saying, "You just don't understand, do you?" Herobrine punched Notch through a house. He said, "You're not the only person with this kind of power anymore!" Herobrine lifted Notch, and flung him into the city wall. Herobrine said, "I'm now your equal!" Herobrine lifted his fist. It caught fire, and glowed white with heat. Herobrine said, "I don't answer to you!" He threw a punch, and Notch caught it. Notch slowly said, "You're right." Notch pulled his fist back. He said, "I'm only human." He punched Herobrine, and, while still holding his fist, slammed him back and forth on the ground. He then flung Herobrine into the air, and threw a blue shockwave, sending Herobrine even higher still, then Notch flew into the air, grabbed Herobrine, and smashed him into the ground. Notch got up. Herobrine lay there, motionless. Then, his eyes flew open. He was furious.

Robin strung four arrows, and Horatio teleported inside the force field with a creeper, leather put over his head to keep him from seeing people and exploding. He shouted, "The creeper's in the field, and the tripwires are set!" Andrew said, "Good! Now, we wait!"

Herobrine sent Notch flying back towards the castle. Herobrine walked towards him, slowly, saying, "Now you've done it. Gone and made me angry!" He caught fire. He slowly walked forward toward Notch, then suddenly, felt something pressing against his foot. He looked down. a tripwire. Suddenly, he was surrounded by butter golems. He said, "Uh, oh."

Bryan waited, and suddenly saw an explosion of yellow dust, and Herobrine flying towards the castle. Bryan said, "He's coming!" Robin got ready. Herobrine landed on the castle. He looked up. The enderdragons were nearly complete. He grinned, but then heard Bryan, shouting, "Hey, Herobrine!" Herobrine looked at Bryan. Stevie was standing next to him. Bryan said, "You know, I just realized how ugly I actually _was_!" Bryan shuddered. Herobrine grimaced. He said, "Are you sure you want to die this way?" Bryan said, "Oh! Oh my! A threat! My one weakness!" Stevie said, "Really, I figured you could do better than that. Threats! What a joke!" Herobrine said, "That's it!" And flew at Bryan and Stevie. As he passed the force field surrounding the Forge, Robin fired the arrows, and got Herobrine in the arm. He flew to the side, into the creeper. Horatio pulled the leather bag off the creeper's head. The creeper saw Herobrine laying on him, and began to hiss. Herobrine said, "A creeper? Really?! That's the best you can-" Then he realized. He was right next to the forge. Horatio quickly said, "Changed my mind! You can have this!" Horatio dropped the Book of Notch on the floor, and teleported away as the creeper exploded. Herobrine shouted, "No!" As the contained explosion detonated the Forge. The force field may have held in the creeper's explosion, but that was nothing compared to the Forge. The force field shattered, causing an explosion that blew off the top of the castle. A bright blue shockwave flew across the landscape, with no signs of stopping. Black and purple dust floated down as the enderdragons disintegrated.

Two floors below, Sky and the Notchtonians heard a massive explosion coming from the roof. Sky ran up, and saw the smoldering wreckage of the castle roof. There was no sign of Andrew, Robin, Horatio, Stevie, or Bryan. The Notchtonians got to the wreckage. They stood, silent. Then, they heard a voice say, "Citizens of Notchton!" They looked up, and saw Notch flying down in front of Sky. Everybody stood in awe. Notch said, "Herobrine may be gone at last, but it was not my doing." He said, "I present to you, the Heroes of Notchton!" Everybody watched as a large force field floated down, with Andrew, Robin, Horatio, Stevie, and Bryan inside. The crowd sent up a huge cheer, and ran up to them. Robin and Horatio, holding hands, were lifted above the crowd's heads, so were Stevie, Bryan, and Andrew. When the excitement had finally subsided some, The Smelly Bacca said, "I don't mean to interfere with your affairs or anything, but, isn't your council gone? Who's gonna be the new leaders of Notchton?" The crowd was silent, then they all looked at Andrew, Robin, Horatio, Stevie, and Bryan. Andrew's eyes widened. He said, "Oh." Andrew then said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby declare that Stevie should be the new head councilman of Notchton!" the crowd cheered, but then Stevie spoke up. "Actually, I don't think a life of leadership is for me." He walked up to Andrew, and put his hand on his shoulder. Stevie said, "Young Andrew here has displayed courage, grace under pressure, and if it wasn't for him, Notchton wouldn't be the same." Bryan then said, "Let it be known from this day forward that Andrew, representative of leadership, Robin, representative of defense, and Horatio, representative of knowledge, are the new Grand Council!" The crowd sent up a thunderous applause. Andrew couldn't quite believe that this was happening. A couple of weeks ago, Andrew was a horseback racer. Now, he was head councilman. Sky said, "Hey, guys! You might want to come see this!" Everybody walked over to where Sky was. There was a hole blown in the castle, and everybody looked through. Outside, they saw animals of types that they had never seen before. There were small creatures that looked like they were wearing masks, there were giant creatures with tusks, and extremely long noses, there were small flying creatures flying around, and in the water there were swimming animals that made squeaking and clicking noises. Stevie and Bryan simultaneously said, "Mo' Creatures?!" andrew said, "What?" Stevie turned to Bryan, and said, "This could only mean one thing!" Andrew said, "What's going on?" Stevie said, "Well, when the Forge detonated-" Bryan said, "I think I saw it send out a shockwave!" Stevie said, "And the shockwave randomly installed mods onto different regions of the globe!" Andrew said, "Wait, wait, so the Forge spread it's mods everywhere?" Stevie nodded, and said, "Yes!" Andrew thought this over. He said simply, "Well then, we've got work to do!" Andrew turned to Robin and Horatio, and said, "You guys up for it?" Robin and Horatio said at the same time, "I'm game!" Andrew grinned, and said, "Let's get started."


	24. Epilogue

And so, Andrew, Robin, and Horatio, the Grand Council of Notchton, began work to repair the broken city. It took a while, but once the repairs were finished, it was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. As for Spardrid, he was found, and exiled to the Nether forever. Stevie, Bryan, and Horatio had also worked together to create the Peaceful Dome, an energy dome that engulfed Notchton, vaporizing any hostile mob. The new animals in Notchton also helped a great deal with the repair efforts. Those 'Elephants' are extremely strong. After the repairs had finished, and Notch and Team Crafted went back to their own realm, Andrew, Robin, and Horatio created a school. The University of Minecraft. There, people would learn to survive outside the city's gates, and the graduates were sent off to colonize, to expand Notchton. And in every graduating class, the best, and the brightest were chosen to go off to the modded areas, to explore. The Council then appointed a scribe, to chronicle the adventures of these brave explorers.

That scribe was named Dr. Sauros.

Yes, I am Dr. Sauros, scribe of Notchton. I record the adventures of the explorers of the modded areas, and put them in the great archive of Notchton, and share them with you, dear reader, on the vast network of your realm known as, 'The Internet'.

So remember, dear reader, when you turn on your computer, when you start Minecraft, and when you enter a world, know that you are not playing any mere game.

You are entering a new world, where the laws of reality no longer apply! The only limit is your imagination! Reality is whatever you wish to make of it!

Welcome to the world of minecraft, my friend!

What's your story?


	25. Poll

**Well, guys, there it is! My first completed fanfiction, Legends of Minecraft: Heroes of Notchton! It's been a great run, and I would love to thank all you guys who reviewed, favorited, followed, or even read my book! It's been a great run!**

**But this isn't over yet!**

**As you may have been able to guess, I was setting up for mods to theme my next books in the series. The only problem is, I don't know which mod to do next! I need your help. Shoot me a comment on this chapter, telling me which of the following mods you want:**

**The Aether  
Fossils and Archaeology  
****Dragon Mounts  
Galacticraft**

**Whichever gets the most votes will be the theme of the next book!**

**Well guys, thank you again for all the encouragement, and I'll see you in the next book! **


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